High profile rugby games may be coming to the city in the near future
Blue Bulls CEO, Eugene Hare explains why the city has yet to host any Super Rugby or test matches.
POLOKWANE – The Peter Mokaba Sports Complex has been up and running since the Soccer World Cup in 2010, and even though it hosted a number of big soccer games in the past it has still not seen any high profile rugby games being played on the grounds… with the exception of the Super Rugby warm-up games.
Blue Bulls CEO, Eugene Hare explains:
“Super Rugby games are allocated by SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby) to franchise’s home grounds. The Bulls market games by season ticket sales and lodging sales, this provides the revenue we use to contract players for the next season.
“Tests are negotiated according to a commercial model where a guaranteed fee must be paid to the South African Rugby Union (SARU). The amount depends on which country the team will play against,” says Hare.
Currently, the approximated fee is R10 million for an Australian or All Black test. “The fee differs from country to country. The decision to offer a test is a financial and commercial decision. A major challenge is that soccer stadium lodgings are much less than that of rugby stadiums,” explains Hare.
Hare adds that even though it is difficult to secure the rights to host high profile games, there is a chance that Peter Mokaba Sports Complex could host such games in the near future.
Currently, the Blue Bulls Rugby Club spends between R3 and 5 million a year on the Limpopo Blue Bulls team with a small contribution from SARU. “We are also currently in negotiation with the Department of Sport and Recreation to finance some of our projects,” Hare explains.
98% of the games are hosted at the Peter Mokaba Sports Complex are soccer games
“The stadium is meant for soccer and rugby games. The stadium sees between 24 and 30 soccer and rugby games played a year with 98% of the games being soccer games,” says Polokwane Municipal Spokesperson, Matshidiso Mothapo.
He explains that there will be much more high profile soccer games, including 30 Premier Soccer League (PSL) games and a possible 10 National First Division (NFD) games to be played at the stadium.
According to Mothapo, 10 Limpopo Blue Bulls Rugby games are set to take place at the stadium.
