In South Africa, the ‘Big Three’ – rugby, cricket and soccer – face plummeting revenues in the wake of no live sport, while minor codes are under even greater threat as crucial sponsorship money dries up.



South African sport faces a crisis the likes of which has never been seen before and one that has the potential to change the game forever as the Covid-19 pandemic threatens the brittle fabric that has kept professionalism alive in the country.



Rugby, cricket and soccer all face plummeting revenues in the wake of no live sport, while minor codes are under even greater threat as crucial sponsorship money dries up.



The ‘Big Three’ all rely heavily on broadcast revenue, and for rugby and soccer, the inability to stage live sport in the first few months of the lockdown has put that relationship under threat. As has the worsening economic crisis in the country, which could see millions more people out of jobs and cancelling their subscriptions to pay channel SuperSport in what will be the longer-term effect of the pandemic.



Tough economic times do not bode well for sports, with the corporate paymasters loathe to be seen to be pumping money into sponsorship while at the same time laying off workers.



The immediate threat to all sports is to keep paying the players and staff, and across the board, there have been salary cuts that suggest the days of largesse are over, for now, and possibly, the foreseeable future.



South Africa’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) faces the potential for collapse as we know it, with clubs already cutting player salaries, laying off non-playing staff and facing a burst to the bubble of what is seen by many as the richest and best-equipped league in Africa.



Absa announced a premature end to their lucrative deal as headline sponsors of the league, worth some R140 million ($8.3 million) per season, while stalwart clubs such as Bidvest Wits, with a rich 99-year history, have been sold as owners reconsider their appetitive for the sport.



“Football all over the world is a business like any other,” Cape Town City owner John Comitis tells FORBES AFRICA. “It has to be treated as such and that means in tough economic times, you have to look at ways of cutting costs.



“But as a club, we will do everything possible to limit the damage. A lot of that will be dependent on how quickly we can re-start the season, because we need to fulfil our contractual obligations to our sponsors and the broadcaster.



“That is the major source of income and without that, it is inevitable that the effect will trickle down to staff and the players.



“But even if you cut player salaries, the cost of running a club remains high. It is a very difficult situation and some [clubs] will handle it better than others.”



Fellow top-flight side AmaZulu confirmed they could not pay full salaries as early as the end of April, though they were guarded on the size of the cuts, saying in a letter to players and staff, “even though the club receives the [R2 million] PSL grant and has Spar as a sponsor, it still relies on other income streams and significant contribution from the owners of the club whose businesses have been severely affected by Covid-19”.



In rugby, some of the country’s top players will lose up to 43% of their monthly earnings up to the end of 2020 after South African Rugby announced plans to cut its budget by R1.2 billion ($71.5 million) for the year.



This would be achieved through a mixture of interventions, including cancelling junior competitions, and limiting other operations such as training camps, coaching courses and non-essential work.



But players will also feel the brunt, with a sliding scale used to determine how much they will lose on their monthly wage, which according to reports, is on average around R50,000 ($2,980) per month across the board, though higher earners can collect five times that amount.



The cuts, which amount to 25% of total remuneration across the industry, are not just for players, but coaching staff, administrators and office workers as well. Those earning less than R20,000 ($1,192) per month will not be affected.



“It was a complex process to find alignment with a number of entities representing 1,396 people in the South African rugby industry,” SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux says.



“The group identified our collective areas of financial risk and what savings had to be made and then identified a plan to mitigate those risks.



“It has meant salary cuts for many, but we have put together a plan that will ensure the industry will be positioned and resourced to get straight back to action just as soon as we are permitted.”



Cricket has largely been shielded from the financial fallout due to the fact that the season was coming to an end just as lockdown was implemented.



It means the industry would have been dormant for a few months in any case, and the national team players mostly idle, though a limited overs tour to Sri Lanka in June was called off.



South Africa’s home summer really kicks into gear in December, by which time authorities are hopeful they will at least be able to stage matches and fulfil their contractual obligations, though a poorly-performing economy may have longer-lasting effects.



“We have budgeted for the amount [of salaries for the season],” Cricket South Africa Acting CEO Jacques Faul says. “It’s a centralized system and both the national team and [domestic] franchise players are budgeted for. At this stage, we will have enough capacity to see us through the [2020/21] season.



“But in the long term, even if we cover this season, we will have to look at what the situation is going to be after that and the financial impact it has. In our situation, I cannot see any player getting less money this season, but going forward, I can see a situation where players might have to receive less.”



The great uncertainty for everyone is the difficulty in predicting how the Covid-19 pandemic will play out in South Africa.



But what is clear is if salaries and jobs are to be saved, the games need to start sooner rather than later, or the money will simply dry up, and in a worst-case scenario, the likes of rugby and cricket could return to the amateur era.&nbsp;



– By Nick Said

Sowet soccer

How Covid-19 Is Playing Out In Sport In South Africa

For the past decade, AB de Villiers has been achieving records on the cricket pitch. Now South Africa’s ODI captain and world number one ODI batsman, is set to achieve yet another milestone off the field. Renowned for his innovative batting and sharp fielding, De Villiers is now setting a trend off the field. The innovative batsman has partnered with US-based tech company, FanHero, to become one of the first sportsmen in South Africa to develop a personalized fan engagement app. This will allow fans from around the world to interact with him on a more personal level.
<blockquote>I have been looking for a way to engage on a more authentic level with my fans across the world and FanHero has offered me the perfect platform to do that.</blockquote>
It will be my life in a bundle, something that I haven&#8217;t been able to get across on traditional social media, says De Villiers before the launch of the app. FanHero, a tech start-up that has been running for just over a year, has already produced several apps in North and South America. They specialize in sports teams and celebrities, allowing them the opportunity to engage exclusively with fans without the constraints of other social media platforms. FanHero allows the fan to get closer to De Villiers. Supporters will get access to De Villiers&#8217;s personal and professional life. With live streaming, pictures, videos and updates from the global cricket star, fans will be able to see De Villiers behind closed doors, learning what it takes to be a professional cricketer and what makes him tick. In addition, fans will be able to ask questions, which AB can respond to.
<blockquote>I want to give away as much as possible, and allow people to understand exactly what it takes to be a professional cricketer.</blockquote>
While South Africa is still a developing country in terms of technology, AB de Villiers is a superstar both on the field and online. He is one of Africa&amp;#39;s biggest sporting brands and represents everything we were looking for in terms of a partnership,” says Johan van Wyk, Director of FanHero South Africa. The app launched at the end of March, just before De Villiers set off for England to play in the upcoming Champions Trophy. De Villiers has temporarily stopped playing Test cricket so he can focus on ODIs. Nearing the end of his career, the South African is looking to win an elusive ICC international trophy with South Africa. Fans can look forward a direct line to one of South Africa&#8217;s favourite sportsmen, bringing the fan and hero closer together.

CRICKET-SRI-RSA

AB de Villiers Uses App To Connect With Fans

It was a night to remember for Kagiso Rabada on a chilly July evening as Cricket South Africa handed out their annual awards. Not only did Rabada claim a virtual a clean sweep of all the individual accolades, taking a record six awards, he became the youngest cricketer to be named the best in the country.
Less than 12 months earlier he was still on the brink of a dramatic introduction to international cricket, a virtual unknown with plenty of promise but untested at senior level. His rise to stardom has been impressive as the 21-year-old from Johannesburg is now firmly fixed as the next hope for the game in South Africa.
His first international summer saw him bowl the second best figures by a South African in test cricket, claiming 13 for 144 against England at Centurion in the last test of a disappointing series for the Proteas.
His One Day International (ODI) debut delivered a return of 6-61 against Bangladesh, including a sensational hat-trick in a dream start.
If what he produced in his first year with the national sides is anything to go by, South Africa can only savour what lies ahead.
It is not just his raw pace that has batsmen hopping around the crease, but his skill with the ball. He can swing it both ways and also has an unerringly accurate yorker that has already got him a lot of wickets.
As the test team now heads to Australia for a thorough examination of their credentials and then host the mercurial Sri Lankans over the holiday period, so the scrutiny on Rabada will become much more marked.
The trip to Australia will be particularly taxing as the game is played as much in the mind as on the pitch Down Under and how he handles the verbal pressure from the home team and the local media will be intriguing.
He is on the cusp of taking over from Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander as the country’s leading bowler, having already led the attack when the pair were absent through injury against India late last year and England at the start of the new year, and then playing a complimentary role as first change to them as South Africa swept aside New Zealand in their brief series in August.
<div id="attachment_5435" style="width: 236px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5435" class="size-medium wp-image-5435" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-508738696-226x300.jpg" alt="" width="226" height="300" />PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA &#8211; FEBRUARY 06: Kagiso Rabada of South Africa bowls during the 2nd Momentum ODI between South Africa and England at St George&#8217;s Park on February 6, 2016 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)</div>
“A diamond,” says his first coach Ray Jennings, who brought him through the development ranks with a “don’t pull any punches” approach that many youngsters would have bristled at but Rabada seemed to revel in.
“He was always going to be something special but it took a lot of work,” Jennings says in his brusque manner. “The thing about Kagiso was he was prepared to learn and work.”
So much so, says Jennings, that Rabada’s appetite for specialist knowledge has become more and more intense the more he has succeeded.
“During the England series, he kept seeking me out to say we must have dinner, he really wants to speak to me. He is the kind of guy who wants to extract as much information as he can, to analyse what is going wrong and what is going right. I didn’t want to be seen to be interfering so I kept telling him I was busy, but he kept persisting. That’s the kind of guy he is.”
Rabada went to play briefly for Kent in county cricket in mid-year rather than the much more lucrative Indian Premier League because of the lessons the English wickets could offer his bowling.
Rabada’s performances mark him out as already a roaring cricketing success but his profile makes him much more than just a successful test and limited overs player. Along with batsman Temba Bavuma, he represents the future pool of talent for South African cricket as the transformation speeds up the process that makes the national teams better reflect the population make-up.
Unlike Makhaya Ntini, who was pulled from rural obscurity, Rabada is the product of the emerging middle class. His father, Mpho, is a doctor and sent his son to St Stithians College, an exclusive private school in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs.
“His first love was soccer,” jokes his father, who admits being amazed with the steady progression of achievements Rabada has made since emerging as the star of the South African team at the under-19 World Cup two years ago.
That his son is now a poster boy for the future of the game has not gone unnoticed in the Rabada household. “He does realize what his achievements do to inspire people, although his top aim really is to play as best he can.”
For Rabada himself, the last 12 months have whistled past almost like a dream.
“Ever since I was young I wanted to play for the Proteas, and it is amazing to be playing with the guys who were my heroes as a kid. It’s so cool to be with them. I’m just being myself. I don’t want to be like anybody else,” he said in one of the early press conferences on tour when he was put up to be interviewed by the assembled media.
This is usually a daunting prospect for players but every time he has done it since, Rabada has reflected a genuine enthusiasm and a level-headedness than tempers the heighted attention he has been subjected to.
“One matures quickly on tours because you spend a lot of time alone in a foreign environment and have an opportunity to find yourself. Of course I’m learning from guys like Dale Steyn but mostly I’m just being me,” he added. “I love this job and I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”
For captain AB de Villiers, Rabada is the real deal.
“He’s shown the maturity of a guy with 100 test matches and the pace of one who’s played in just one or two. It’s difficult to find all the right compliments but he has impressed us all. He is the future.”
That future is bright.

Tag: Cricket South Africa

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How Covid-19 Is Playing Out In Sport In South Africa

AB de Villiers Uses App To Connect With Fans

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