Why are non-football sports like Rugby and Boxing struggling to attract revenue?

Despite having a wide range of sports […]

Despite having a wide range of sports disciplines, only football has been at the helm of attracting both huge crowds and revenue. This is unlike countries like South Africa, where sports like rugby, cricket, and basketball attract decent income for the parties involved.

Zambia Institute of Sport (ZIS) Country Director Dr. Francis Mwaanga observed that the culture favors football, mainly because of its worldwide appeal.

“We have a little bit of athletics, swimming, and basketball, but currently only football attracts better revenue,” Dr. Mwaanga bemoaned.

 According to multiple reports, football in the recent past has received a host of corporates offering huge sponsorship deals either through CSR or just a benefit model.

Why do corporates shun these other sports? Interestingly, most of the non-football sports find themselves lobbying for funds at the height of international assignments, and some, like netball, have missed a couple of competitions due to lack of corporate response.

Obviously, the corporate community is bent on getting maximum exposure, both digital and on television, a platform that the non-football sports fail to provide.

 At the same time, the corporate entities mostly place the non-football sports into the CSR category rather than a strategic investment.

One of the key challenges is the poor administration of the federations, with experts observing that most of them are treated as charity rather than business.

 A status quo that ZIS is aimed at resolving through offering specialized and professional training for administrators and anyone involved in the sports fraternity.

 Dr. Mwaanga revealed that the Institute is almost penning an MOU with the Ministry of Sports, making it mandatory for anyone operating in the sports fraternity to be professionalized.

 “We have engaged the Ministry of Sports in a model called public-private being; we are almost getting into an MOU.”

Revenue increase for the sports and federations that are not football is a matter of urgency, because the athletes are mostly at the receiving end—not receiving the pat for hard work.

Article by Samuel Mutale