New competitions pose threat to football's shine
Kabelo Boranabi | Monday April 28, 2025 10:22
Football by nature remains the most popular sport in the country and the FNB Premiership feeds from the masses in terms of following. The competition's 30-match marathon also adds to the numbers, with the contest spread over 10 months. Although the league games attendance has been generally low, this season has seen increased interest. The premiership records the highest number of fans at a single game, with an estimated 22, 000 fans attending the Gaborone derby featuring Township Rollers and Gaborone United as well as the recent clash between Township Rollers and Mochudi Centre Chiefs. The figures are around one million people watching the premiership through live matches and broadcasts over the entire season. The numbers eclipse the now defunct, motorsport 1000km Toyota Desert Race (TDR) or Mantshwabisi, as it is commonly known.
The three-day-long event attracted over a 100, 000 spectators, albeit in a far shorter period than the football league season. In the place of Mantshwabisi, in came Sarona Kalahari 1000 Race, Botswana's first ever 1, 000km off-road racing competition. The race did not reach the same heights as Mantshwabisi as the first edition attracted around 20, 000 spectators. It is believed that the numbers could have been higher but the dates of the event clashed with the 2025 FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix that was held at the National Stadium. The track and field event, however, did not attract the same numbers as the first edition. In 2023, the World Athletics (WA) Continental Tour event matched the Gaborone derby selling out the venue's seating capacity of 22,000. This remains the highest number of spectators in a single local athletics event. The two non-football events are the only ones that come close to attendances recorded in the Premier League matches. The Botswana Golden Grand Prix has, however, attracted a gold-laden line up of former and current world and Olympic champions.
Athletics has further pulled big names in the marathon events thus making it one of the most followed sporting codes in the country. Motorsport on the other end, has also attracted elite competitors from across the region in the 1, 000km events. Table tennis and tennis have also hosted key figures in the region in both the annual Botswana Open and Botswana Open Tennis champions respectively. Football has attracted talent from abroad, with teams allowed to register only five foreign players. Clubs have cast their net across Africa and the globe for talent. At the start of the 2024-2025, seven nations were represented in the league whilst in the previous campaign, the league had players of European descent. Prize money and players' wages could be the reason for attracting players from abroad. The Botswana Golden Grand Prix had $5, 000 (approximately P68,000) as the highest prize money for the 2025 edition whilst table tennis came in second in individual sports as at one point a total of P32, 000, with the inclusion of a bonus prize, was won at the Independence Grand Finale. The two remain on the heels of football as this season's FNB Premiership Player of the Season will take home a six figures check of P100, 000. The team's prize money stands at P1.4 million and it represents the highest purse in the local sporting scene. However, the Golden Grand Prix pays comparatively better as the athletes are paid up to nearly P1 million in appearance fees and the prize money is for a day's event whilst in football it’s for nearly a year's work. Football's premiership has the largest sponsorship amount with over P16.5 million per season.
The premier sponsor, FNB Botswana, injects P9.5 million per year whilst the Department of Broadcasting Services (DBS) adds P7 million for broadcast rights, although the figure is deemed low. The Botswana Golden Grand Prix is second in the rankings after the elite league as this year the event had a total of P12 million in sponsorships. A number of sporting codes have never received the seven figure sponsorship for their respective competitions. But football is facing its own internal challenges. The emergence of social football has impacted the Premier League and football growth in general. The ever-present boardroom wars, questionable match officiating, and match fixing allegations have severely impacted the most popular local competition. Fans have, however, been served a sumptuous dish on the pitch this season. With just four rounds left, there is no clear winner in this year's championship race. At one point, four teams were logged on the same number of points at the summit.
The 2024-2025 season is counted amongst the closely contested leagues in football. Ranked against the world's top five leagues, the FNB Premiership would claim the second spot to Italy's Serie A where Napoli and Inter Milan are going for a finale showdown as they are locked on 71 points with five rounds to play.