By virtue of being the hosts, South Africans say they deserve cheaper tickets. Others have been citing the country’s ’developing world’ status as a reason for this, calling on the organisers to make sure that the poor are actually taken into consideration when determining the ticket prices. According to a report on the IoL site, the LOC announced that about 120 000 of the lowest-priced tickets for the 2010 World Cup will be given away to allow the country’s poorer people to watch. The announcement was made at Berlin’s travel trade fair.
Confederations Cup tickets on sale soon - 06/07/2008
Doubting Thomases and pessimists over the country’s ability to stage a successful World Cup in 2010 should be lining up for Confederations Cup tickets in November. Sunday World reports that this is according to LOC CE Danny Jordaan, who has revealed that the ticket sales programme for the event would be launched soon. ’We’ve got a lot of work leading up to the Confederations Cup, and are working with teams that will be arriving for the tournament,’ Jordaan said. ’It’s totally irrelevant and does not make sense to waste time talking about something that does not exist. These two tournaments are going ahead and only a natural disaster can stop them.’
The NFA sold the ticketing rights for the 2010 World Cup/African Nations Cup qualifier against Equatorial Guinea to Total Promotions for N5.5 million. This is half a million more than the last home game against South Africa, which the NFA sold to Drumstix for N5 million earlier this month. Total Promotions, the outfit which hold the television rights to the Nigeria Premier League, ran into a slight hitch however which led to a delay in supplying the tickets. SuperSport reports that the company was initially in discussions with one bank for financing of the project, and had gone ahead to print tickets with the name of the bank. But the parties failed to reach an agreement, and negotiations broke down, forcing Total Promotions to look elsewhere for financing. As a consequence, new tickets had to be printed, which led to a delay in distributing the tickets to the numerous sales outlets in Abuja.
While many South Africans are still trying to save their hard-earned money for 2010 World Cup tickets, Geneva Talakgale is already in possession of one for the final. The Sowetan reports that Talakgale, of Limpopo, is one of the 500 First National Bank customers who were presented with double tickets for the tournament This brings to 1 000 the total number of customers who have won double tickets to watch the World Cup. Irvin Khoza, the 2010 LOC chairman urged South Africans to embrace the World Cup. ’We urge the 45m people of South Africa to adopt the World Cup, the event belongs to all of us,’ said Khoza.
First National Bank, the official national supporter of the 2010 World Cup finals, rewarded 500 South African soccer fans with double tickets for various 2010 matches. Welcoming the winners at a press conference held in Johannesburg, Irvin Khoza, chairman of the 2010 LOC, said: ’We are committed to ensuring this is a World Cup that touches all the people of South Africa. This commitment is demonstrated in our ticketing policy.’ The Times reports that the announcement brings to 1 000 the number of people who have secured themselves double tickets as part of FNB’s 2010 World Cup -Ticket Promotion, which kicked off in November last year. These tickets are out of a total of 16 000, which FNB receives from FIFA as part of its partnership on the Confederations Cup 2009 and the 2010 World Cup.
South Africans have been warned that unless they lose their slack mentality of purchasing tickets at the 11th hour, they could watch the 2010 World Cup finals from their lounges. According to a Sunday World report, the LOC has reported that they’ve received requests totalling in excess of 15m for World Cup tickets from around the globe. The high demand has clearly exceeded supply and the 2010 event, to be hosted on African soil for the first time in history, promises to be a truly global spectacle. ’South Africans must wake up and make arrangements to secure their tickets on time,’ cautioned LOC CE Danny Jordaan.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel says football fans can save for their 2010 World Cup expenses - and for their future - by buying government’s Retail Bonds. Manuel says the savings level of a country is one of the factors that contribute towards growth and development. But South Africans save far too little: Currently, the level of savings here is just under 14% of GDP. The Sowetan reports that last year, the Household sector savings ratio was only 1.4%. He says the poor do save, for instance for funerals and weddings through stokvel clubs, and he would like everyone to consider starting a retail bond investment too, even if you start small. The advantage is that you are saving for your future, and helping to improve the country at the same time.
For those football fans who may not have tickets to watch 2010 World Cup matches, the City of Joburg has identified three venues to be used as fan parks during the tournament. Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown will be the official FIFA World Cup fan park, while Innes-Free Park in Sandton and Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown have been set aside as third party public viewing facilities. The official fan park will be organised by the City, the 2010 LOC and FIFA, which will be jointly responsible for the set up and necessary infrastructure. The City will organise the two public viewing venues, subject to FIFA’s general public viewing guidelines.
Germiston Lake and Dries Niemand Park in Kempton Park have been identified as possible fan parks for the 2010 World Cup. Joe Mojapelo, Ekurhuleni Municipality’s World Cup and special projects general manager, said they were finalising a plan for public viewing areas. The Sowetan reports that Mojapelo also announced that all the four Ekurhuleni stadiums being renovated as part of the World Cup legacy projects would also serve as public viewing areas. ’We want the public to have access to the World Cup,’ said Mojapelo, who has already started familiarising the community with public viewing areas.
Match tickets for next year’ s Confederations Cup, which will effectively be a test run for the 2010 World Cup , may cost as little as R80. For the first round (quarterfinals) fans will pay R80 and the semifinals will cost 20 (R160). To watch the finals will set fans back R240 . For the World Cup, the cheapest tickets will cost about R160. The Times reports that prices for the more expensive hospitality packages were released a few days ago. 2010 LOC chairman Irvin Khoza announced that the LOC had agreed on ticket prices for the Confederations Cup and they were waiting only for approval from FIFA. Khoza would not divulge the figures but a source within the LOC said they had pushed hard for the prices to be as low as possible.
Around 120 000 of the lowest-priced tickets for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will be given away to allow the country’s poorer people to watch. According to a report on the IoL site, Tumi Makgabo, the spokesperson for the 2010 LOC made the announcement at Berlin’s travel trade fair with the cost of the free tickets set to be met by the event’s sponsors. ’As many tickets as possible will be made available to South Africans wanting to see the event in their home country,’ said Makgabo. ’It is a question of where and how we sell them,’ she said. It is still unclear when ticket sales for the June 11-July 11 event in 2010 will go on sale.
SA companies wanting to buy VIP suites or seats during the 2010 World Cup matches should start deciding which games they want to attend. The FIFA World Cup hospitality programme was officially launched in Johannesburg this week. The Star reports that three hospitality packages will be available: private suites, shared suites and special seats combined with hospitality services, concerning, among other things, parking, catering and entertainment. Costs will range between $380 (about R2 938) per person per match up to $6 000 (abut R46 398) for a private suite during the final.
Packages for the 2010 World Cup will go on sale in SA in June, for an average price of R11391. Match Hospitality’s chief operating officer, Pascal Portes, said: ’We want to give priority to the domestic market. (Ticket) sales to the rest of the world will start in September through a network of appointed sales agents.’ The Times reports that standard packages include a match ticket, coupled with hospitality services such as catering, parking, special access and entertainment.
Indira Mabhele does not follow soccer, but she is on cloud nine because she will watch the historic 2010 World Cup final match at Soccer City on July 11. The Sowetan reports that Mabhele is one of the lucky 500 First National Bank (FNB)customers who have won tickets to watch the tournament with their partners. Official supporter of the World Cup, FNB has been running a ticket promotion for its staff and customers. ’I still can’t believe I have won two tickets to watch the World Cup final. I don’t follow soccer but the buzz word in South Africa now is the World Cup,’ said Mabhele.
The Education Department is planning a Soccer World Cup schools’ competition — a schools’ version of the tournament. The Sowetan reports that the winning provincial soccer team will win seats to watch the 2010 World Cup final. This competition was announced by the Education Minister, Naledi Pandor.
Almost half of metropolitan SA adults are not willing to purchase tickets to the 2010 WC matches, according to market research company African Response. The Marketing Site reports that African Response polled 400 respondents representative of the major cities in SA to find out whether they would be willing to buy tickets given the recently confirmed prices. Special category tickets for South African residents will range from R136 per ticket for a group stage match to around R6 000 per ticket for a final match.
There is a huge increase in the interest in mobile ticketing globally as large sporting events look to adopt mobile technology to aid them in managing large groups of people at the events, says Eddie Groenewald, CE of Multimedia Solutions. ’With the world’s focus shifted to SA for 2010, we’ve had huge interest from sporting bodies, not only from the 2010 WC, but for the 2012 Olympics,’ he says. Bizcommunity.com report that Groenewald says SA has one of the highest number of consumers utilising the mobile Internet in the world. ’SA is therefore well positioned to offer a host of mobile technology by 2010 as well as go on to offer that technology to the rest of the word,’ Groenewald says.
One thousand lucky South Africans will become winners of 2010 WC tickets when FNB hosts their first promotional ticket draw early next month. As an official national supporter of the 2010 WC, FNB will be distributing a total of 16 000 free World Cup tickets. According to a SA Good News report, 500 double tickets will be given away in 12 draws set to take place over the next two years. The first draw is scheduled for 14 February 2008. To qualify for the draw one must be a FNB customer and utilise one of their ’goal scoring’ products. These include deposit, loans, credit, transactional, investment and home loans products, or FNB eBucks rewards membership.
The allocation of tickets for major international football tournaments is once again under the spotlight. The German Football Federation (DFB) will put 14 400 tickets for Germany’s first round matches at this summer’s Euro 2008 on sale from today. The DFB said they were putting 70 percent of their allocation on sale to the public with the remainder divided between federation chiefs, clubs, sponsors and the players. However, not everyone is happy. Bild newspaper said 99% of German supporters who will apply to buy a ticket will go away empty handed and yet tickets at 850 euros are already available on the black market. Fifa has indicated that it will link the sale of 2010 World Cup tickets to non-South Africans to the sale of tourist packages.
The allocation of tickets for major international football tournaments is once again under the spotlight. The German Football Federation (DFB) will put 14 400 tickets for Germany’s first round matches at this summer’s Euro 2008 on sale from Tuesday. The DFB said they were putting 70 percent of their allocation on sale to the public with the remainder divided between federation chiefs, clubs, sponsors and the players. However, not everyone is happy. Bild newspaper said 99% of German supporters who will apply to buy a ticket will go away empty handed and yet tickets at 850 euros are already available on the black market. , Fifa has indicated that it will link the sale of 2010 World Cup tickets to non-South Africans to the sale of tourist packages.
Scotland’s football clubs and councils have been urged to team up to show international matches on big screens.
SNP MSP Brian Adam wants more fans to enjoy the big games, especially if they are not shown on terrestrial channels.
A sell-out crowd of more than 7,000 fans filled a marquee on Glasgow Green last November to watch Scotland’s vital sell-out Euro qualifier with Italy. None of Scotland’s World Cup qualifiers for the 2010 tournament will be shown live on terrestrial TV.
The home games will only be screened on Sky, with the away matches on Setanta.
Non-SA 2010 tickets linked to tourism - 07/12/2007
For the first time since 1998, Fifa will link the sale of match tickets to non-South Africans to the sale of tourist packages that will include both air and ground transportation and accommodation. The Dispatch reports that as part of the World Cup Tour Operator Programme, Fifa will allocate 350 000 match tickets for use in the World Cup and these cannot be sold outside of this programme. The programme, to be implemented by Match Event Services, will allow qualified and experienced travel companies across the globe to provide accommodation, transportation and other tourism-related services in travel packages of their own creation to be sold together with tickets sold on behalf of Fifa.
Fifa has given qualified and experienced tour operators from around the world the opportunity to benefit from the 2010 WC in by enabling them to sell customised travel packages that include WC match tickets. According to a SA Info report, to make it easier for football fans to identify the tour operators who are entitled to sell travel arrangements with valid 2010 tickets, a special quality mark featuring the 2010 official emblem with the word mark ’Authorised Travel Packages’ has been developed. A total of 350 000 tickets have been allocated to cater for these packages.
Fans lash out at black market rip-off - 25/11/2007
The black market went into overdrive this week as tickets for the _derby between Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates were sold out. City Press reports that enraged soccer supporters were ripped off by Durban’s ’enterprising hawkers’ who were selling derby tickets for as much as R200 each. The normal price is R30 a ticket. Hawkers visited taverns and bars selling tickets for anything between R50 and R200.
South Africans will get cheap tickets to watch the 2010 WC on home. Category Four tickets would be sold only to SA residents. According to a report on the News24 site, SA’s 2010 LOC CE Danny Jordaan said the special tickets were an attempt to make watching the finals as accessible as possible to SA’s population, more than half of whom live below the poverty line.
More than 400 000 guests from all over the world are expected to visit SA during the 2010 WC from June 11 to July 11. In order to provide football fans with a unique and comprehensive African experience, Fifa has decided to allocate match tickets through a dedicated tour operator programme for the tournament. Sunday World reports that this will be the first such programme to be implemented for a WC since 1998. The project will be officially launched by environmental affairs and tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk at a workshop with local and overseas tour operators at Soccerex 2007 in Johannesburg on November 26.
In a bid to prevent the resale of 2010 World Cup tickets on the black market, LOC CE Danny Jordaan said government might have to pass legislation making fraudulent sales of tickets for the showpiece a criminal offence. Speaking at a briefing to announce a FNB initiative that would enable thousands of South Africans to win tickets for the 2010 event, Jordaan said the resale of tickets was seen in such a serious light that deterrents to discourage the practice were being investigated. ’We are going to take serious steps against the resale of tickets and the UK is looking to go that route for their domestic matches (by making it illegal to resell tickets),’ Jordaan said. ’We cannot have a situation whereby people buy tickets and then resell them for eight times their normal value.’ Business Day reports that Jordaan recalled an incident when the England national soccer team travelled to SA to play against Bafana Bafana in an international friendly at Kings Park stadium in May 2003.
A total of 16 000 2010 World Cup tickets have been made available to excited soccer fans in the form of a competition. BuaNews reports that FNB has unveiled the 2010 World Cup Promotion which will see 16 000 South Africans win tickets for the tournament’s 64 games. ’FNB is passing on their sponsorship benefits to qualifying and active FNB customers. (They will be) included in 12 lucky-draws to win double tickets to the continent’s most anticipated sporting event ever,’ said FNB CE Michael Jordaan. FNB is the official National Supporter of the world cup through its $30m sponsorship of the event. The sponsorship entitles the bank to a package of rights and benefits that include access to match tickets to the tournament as well as to the Fifa Confederations Cup 2009. According to 2010 World Cup LOC CE Danny Jordaan, FNB’s initiative will maintain the upbeat momentum that is expected to develop out of the 25 November draw announcement.
South Africans could be using their cellphones to gain access to the 2010 World Cup stadiums. That is if entrepreneur Daki Nkanyane has anything to do with it. Nkanyane has turned his weakness
for gadgets into a successful business. According to a report on the News24 site, he is the founding managing director of Tswelopele Solutions, a provider of complete and integrated technology for access management solutions, ticketing and payment solutions for stadiums, arenas, leisure parks and other entertainment venues. Tswelopele also has rights to the Smartmachine technology which provides direct ticket sales, reservations and delivery via cellphones.
The Madibeng municipality has announced plans to make use of various public viewing spaces during the 2010 World Cup, so that soccer fans can watch matches without having to buy stadium tickets. Bua News reports that the reason behind this decision is that only one fan park has been approved in Rustenburg for the 2010 World Cup. ’Initially we wanted to have a fan park in the Hartbeespoort dam but it was not approved. We will, however, be using public viewing with big television screens for our soccer fans to feel the world cup atmosphere,’ said the Executive Mayor of Madibeng, Fande Molokoane. Fan parks and public viewing areas will play an integral role during the World Cup since tickets are limited. The mayor was speaking following a tour to showcase some of the tourism attractions in the province which are set to bring economic spin-offs during the World Cup.
