League winners deserve more than P1.4m

Mqondisi Dube | Tuesday May 27, 2025 14:56

It is a huge improvement from the previous season where champions received half the amount in a league that had no sponsor. But with the FNB sponsorship secured, teams will be rewarded better for their efforts this season. The end of year awards were due to be held on Saturday, but were surprisingly postponed at the 11th hour. Players, coaches and match officials at least have something to look forward to, with the awards carrying up to P100,000 for the player of the season. While the pay-outs represent some positive shift from the previous season, they however, still remain below par.

Most local clubs are struggling to get durable partnerships and are forced to live from hand-to-mouth. Some even fight for gate takings which are also not enough to sustain the team. In a proper set-up, clubs should not rely on grants and prize money to run their teams. This is the very reason why it is not profitable to commercially operate a club in Botswana. The discredited hand-to-mouth approach is killing many clubs as costs of running a team are astronomical. Take Township Rollers for example, they need around P8million a season to run their team yet at the end of the season league champions get P1.4million. Even if they win the Orange FA Cup, the sum does not reach P3million. There is still a shortfall of more than P5million, which gate takings do not cover. So if an investor is to pour P8million per season, and the team makes around P5million, assuming there will be sponsorships of around P2.5million, still the club would make losses.

The P1.4million prize money for the champions is what can be offered under the circumstances, but in 2025, the money should have reached P5million for the champions. The P1.4million should be for the bottom teams, which will help them make decent signings and pay their wages. It is not the ideal situation to bank on grants and prizemoney, but under the circumstances where sponsorships are hard to come by, the two offer the only hope. With the sports betting explosion the country is experiencing, one hopes the local league, just like South Africa's is headed for a bountiful harvest. Betway sponsors the South African Premiership for R900million over three seasons, and their league, like Botswana's, has 16 teams. The expectation is that there will be a football revolution driven by sports betting with Betway already announcing it will partner with the local league to complement existing partners like FNB. Such developments are expected to banish meagre grants and prize money, and ensure clubs are able to sustain themselves throughout the season, even without securing their own funding. However, this does not mean clubs should rely on spoon-feeding.