Tottenham Hotspur, an English Premier League football team, is expected to sign a sponsorship agreement with the South African Tourist Board, or SAT, for an estimated €53 million (R1 billion).
The arrangement, which hasn’t been officially announced but has surfaced recently, is a component of South Africa’s goal to revive its economy and bring in 21 million tourists by 2030.
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa is under pressure to declare a national catastrophe as a result of the continued power outages that are wreaking havoc on the nation. The episodes, which the locals refer to as “loadshedding,” are making it harder for families already struggling with tight funds to buy food and are raising costs.
Themba Khumalo, the acting CEO of SAT, said to reporters on Thursday, “This is not about football.”
We are gaining access to the British Premier League audience. We are gaining access to it so that we can convince them to visit South Africa, spend pounds, euros, dollars, and yen there, and restore honor to our people”.
Over 430 000 British tourists visited South Africa in 2019 alone, accounting for 8.3% of all foreign visitors to the country.
An additional billion eyes could be drawn to South Africa’s marketing campaign, which is likely to include training camps in South Africa, kit branding, match-day advertising, partnership announcements, complimentary tickets, and stadium hospitality, in addition to increasing visibility among UK tourists.
The deal, which is stirring up some controversy in South Africa, has not yet received a response from the club. Build One South Africa’s seasoned opposition leader Mmusi Maimane questioned the plan, which replicates Rwanda’s sponsorship of Arsenal in 2021.
“What are the deterrents to tourism?” Maimane tweeted at the weekend. “Crime. Corruption. Load shedding. Polluted beaches. Rwanda did not just sponsor Arsenal. They made sure that Kigali was safe, clean and working.”
The plan is “a smack in the face of every South African whose hard-earned tax would be used to support a first-world football team,” according to the Democratic Alliance.
The possible agreement still requires approval after consultation. Although the leak makes that process more difficult, the SAT is still moving forward.
“We can’t keep on as normal since that won’t provide the required results. To really help us change the dial on our visitor arrivals, we are considering a relationship of this kind with Tottenham Hotspurs FC,” Khumalo said.
