Malawi: Blantyre Derby Revenue Falls Short As Bullets’ Slump Impacts Attendance

The highly anticipated TNM Super League Blantyre derby between archrivals Mighty Mukuru Wanderers and FCB Nyasa Bullets at Kamuzu Stadium drew in K55.1 million on Saturday, reflecting a K25 million decline from the first round’s impressive collection of K80.49 million. This drop comes in stark contrast to the record K88.3 million generated during their FDH Bank Cup encounter in July.

The latest match saw a slight decrease in attendance, with many attributing this downturn to Bullets’ recent struggles in form.

From the K41.98 million net collection, each team and the ground owners, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, received K10.5 million, while the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) and Super League of Malawi (Sulom) each pocketed around K4.198 million.

Despite generating K2.66 million through e-ticketing, match day ticket sales contributed K28.3 million, with K24.19 million from pre-sale tickets. However, total expenses reached K13.17 million.

Wanderers’ CEO Panganeni Ndovi did not respond to inquiries regarding the match’s financial outcome. In contrast, Bullets acting CEO Albert Chigoga expressed dissatisfaction with the revenue, emphasizing that the figures do not accurately represent the crowd size. “We were an away team, so the business responsibility lay mainly with Wanderers,” he noted.

Sulom vice-general secretary Donnex Chilonga offered a different perspective, suggesting that Bullets’ subpar performance this season may have deterred fans from attending. “Bullets’ performance hasn’t been top-notch compared to previous seasons,” he remarked, highlighting the impact of on-field success on fan turnout and revenue.