Home of Legends Cup exceeds organisers' expectations
Saturday 16 November marked a historic and memorable achievement for Nelson Mandela Bay and the Eastern Cape Province as the inaugural Home of Legends lived up to expectations. We are pleased to announce that the tournament that featured Betway Premier Soccer League greats Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns, Lamontville Golden Arrows and the Eastern Cape’s own Chippa United, ran pleasingly well and ticked all expectations.
Heading to the event, the MBDA had four major objectives, to (1) establish the Home of Legends Cup brand as a viable and sustainable project for years to come, (2) generate interest in sponsorship, (3) bring the Eastern Cape back into the lead in sports and entertainment, and (4) to offer spectators a memorable experience, on and off the field.
On the first objective, we are ecstatic that a whopping 20 600 tickets were bought and in circulation throughout the day. We do not remember any new event initiative in the province that was able to draw tickets sales of more than 20 000. We recognise that the crowd build-up was slow and gradually improved towards the close. Ticket sales and the sold-out hospitality (suites) is also historic for the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Ticket sales are the foundation of the commercial model; however, for sustainability reasons, securing profitable commercial partnerships is the second major objective. Commercial partnerships made it possible for us to deliver a high-calibre event as many will have noticed several sponsorship engagements by Africa’s largest mobile telephone network operator.
Other commercial partnerships came in the form of advertising inventory, community tickets distribution and branding, bringing colour and excitement.
The third objective was to ensure we bring spotlight back to the Eastern Cape to regain its glory days of sport and entertainment in South Africa. We achieved this objective thanks to the great partnership developed between the MBDA, Eastern Cape Provincial Government and particularly the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture.
The honourable MEC, Sibulele Ngongo, pulled out all the stops in ensuring the success of this event, not only for Nelson Mandela Bay, but the province. The Premier of the Eastern Cape, honourable Oscar Mabuyane, threw his weight behind us, lending the entity the permission to leverage the provincial trademark, Home of Legends brand. Our city, led by the offices of the Executive Mayor and Deputy Executive Mayor were instrumental in ensuring the event went ahead successfully.
Early reports from the hospitality industry indicate that major establishments had improved occupancy over the weekend, a welcome boost to the tourism industry. We have appointed a team of economists to provide us with a detailed economic impact assessment as well as stakeholder feedback that we intend to study towards improving the offering for years to come.
The final objective was about delivering a memorable experience, which we believe was achieved through the exciting match-ups, two thrilling semi-finals and the dream final featuring two of the biggest clubs in Africa, Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs. We could not have asked for a better outcome than the best football brand in Africa and carrying the honour of being the inaugural Home of Legends winning team. The concert closed off a historic and momentous day with perfect weather and the best well-behaving supporters.
With over 20 000 tickets sold, and sold-out hospitality, we have taken notes on areas to improve in the coming years. Our partners and spectators suggest that we consider splitting the one-day event into a multi-day event, something we had already committed to at the launch in October. By splitting the days, we should be able to unbundle the ticket and thereby reduce the price per day without losing the overall value. The positioning during the month is also very important, choosing a date closer to month end is a priority. We are listening and we plan to take all the advice, process it and make the necessary improvements for 2025.
Finally, on the Home of Legends Trophy, we understand that creativity and arts can be polarising as, by nature, art is a subjective subject. Our brief to the trophy design team was to produce an art piece that is unique and captures the spirit of the Eastern Cape, carry the names of the legends that shaped South Africa from a pre-apartheid era to the current. Stalwarts such as tata Nelson Mandela have their names on this cup. Barely 24 hours later, big corporates are signalling interest in being part of the tournament, from airlines to telecoms, and that is exciting news.
Issued by MBDA Spokesperson, Luvuyo Bangazi, on behalf of the MBDA CEO, Anele Qaba.