BPL matches continue to attract low turnout
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Friday December 9, 2016 15:22
The Botswana Premier League (BPL) together with the Mascom Top 8 local organising committee (LOC) recently expressed their concerns over the situation.
Among those hard hit by the situation are Gilport Lions who have recorded just P210 in their first two home games against Police XI and Green Lovers. They netted just P60 during their encounter with Police XI where they won 1-0.
Against Green Lovers, they netted just P150 despite the exorbitant costs that come with preparing for such matches.
Their next home game, which was against Mochudi Centre Chiefs, was cancelled after they failed to pitch up because of the confusion surrounding their ownership. The situation, despite being the worst compared to the other Premier League sides in their first two home games, cuts across all the BPL matches. Premier League sides have been complaining of low number of supporters at the games compared to what they usually record in other seasons. Gilport however have said their situation have been made different by the issues surrounding their ownership status.
“Honestly our situation is a bit different because there is this issue of the ownership of the club. We initially had planned a strategy to lure in new members through a membership drive followed by the merchandise.
We had already established membership in Gaborone West because we have been training there for a long time,” club spokesperson, Mpho Sephiri said yesterday. She said now that the club is returning to its original status, everything has stalled. Lions however managed to make around P40,000 last Sunday when they beat Extension Gunners 2-1 in Lobatse.
Speaking to Mmegi Sport yesterday, Gaborone United spokesperson, Ernest Mosedame also admitted they have been experiencing low turnouts at their games. He said although he does not have the actual figures, they have realised that they need to do something about the situation. “We are even planning to hold a press conference tomorrow (Friday) together with Gunners to try and hype this Saturday’s match. We have been toying around the idea of even engaging a music group which will perform at all our home matches in the hope that this will improve the situation,” he said.
The issue of introducing a new system of selling tickets has also been blamed on the low turnout at this season’s matches. The BPL decided that supporters now have to buy their tickets through web ticketing, which has reportedly caused some problems for some supporters as well as the teams.
Mosedame was also of the view that the system has somehow contributed to the current situation. He said normally people take time to get used to a new thing. He said against BDF XI, they realised that a lot of supporters were stranded outside the stadium because they could not find tickets anywhere as a result of network problems at the retailing outlets. “We ended up allowing them to get in for free because we did not want a situation where people would now force themselves in resulting in stampede,” he said. His view is that the BPL should revert to the old system while in the meantime people are being put up to speed with the new system.