The day Kaizer Chiefs are referred to as the “sleeping giants” of South African football the Motaungs will realise that commercial success is intrinsically linked to on-field success. To continue to have the most supporters (and therefore leverage with sponsors), you need to get new and younger fans to support your team and no team will attract followers if it dishes out mediocre performances for an extended periods. Youngsters choose teams to support based on the influence from the adults in their families, as well as the successful teams of the day. Chiefs still have a big advantage when it comes to influence of their larger fanbase, but are losing out when it comes to success in enticing new fans to join. Losing out on these fans will not have an immediate detrimental effect on the overall numbers that support the team. However, the long term consequences of having rivals take new fans is that the leverage of numbers backing the brand slowly erodes, and that coupled with on-field failure, ultimately means losing out on big commercial deals as no corporate wants to associate with teams that live on past glory. As the adage goes: You cannot dry today’s laundry with yesterday’s sunshine.
In the early 90s when Orlando Pirates were in the midst of a 17-year league title drought, a young person choosing to support them resembled a rebel. Their fans were feared for being violent and taking no prisoners. And that alone repelled the interest of a younger generation of supporters . It took Dr Irvin Khoza’s will and determination to bring the success back to the team, and suddenly, the prodigal sons could unashamedly return home.
Unfortunately for Pirates, they had lagged so far behind Chiefs in terms of numbers, that they are still struggling to catch up to this day. Let me pain a clearer picture: from being the most supported team when Chiefs was launched just over two decades prior, to their drought breaking title in 1994, they have been trailing Chiefs since even though they have won the same number of titles as Chiefs in the PSL era. The reason is because their previous lengthy title drought and general mismanagement preceding the Khoza reign stopped them from getting new fans into the team. Today, 27 years after that drought breaking title, they are still playing catch up.
A similar revolution to that of Kaizer Chiefs attracting new fans through on-field success is happening at Mamelodi Sundowns. From being the pride of Mamelodi, with very little success and few fans outside of Pretoria, to Zola Mahobe buying the team and bankrolling them to great on-field success, to the Krok brothers and Tsichlas family era, eventually to the Motsepe era. All these eras brought success in varying degrees. That success has made them a mainstream choice for many new followers. Take a time travel from the fall of Mahobe right through to the Motsepe ownership and you’ll notice how their fanbase continues to grow steadily. It is visible that more and more people associate with Sundowns. They are still behind Chiefs and Pirates in terms of overall digits, but their sustained success is bringing them new fans at a rapid rate.
Moroka Swallows are a clearer warning to Chiefs of what relying on your status as a big team without taking care of on-field success can do to a team. When Chiefs were established, Swallows were one of the biggest teams behind Orlando Pirates. They had a huge following with great on-field success. They began to decline under the ownership of David Chabeli and that slide continued after the club was sold to a consortium led by Leon Prins (including a brief period of success) up to a point where they were relegated out of professional football. Swallows were effectively dead when they were resurrected by Panyaza Lusufi and David Mogashoa through the purchase of Maccabi FC. Today, you’d be hard pressed to find a Swallows supporter who is under 40 years old. They are going to have to work very hard to return the club to its former glory.
Kaizer Chiefs’ negligence of the footballing aspect of their business and concentrating on the marketing and apparel side might not seem like a bad thing for now, but in the long term, it could prove disastrous as on-field failure means less and less of younger fans choosing to associate with the team as they are seen as a team that is fast becoming a laughing stock. Proper football structures need to be put in place, much the same way that the marketing and PR of the team is one of the best in the country. Neglecting the football side and allowing the team to go six years without winning a single trophy could have disastrous consequences if the slide is not arrested and great investment made into the first team. This will not just be through purchasing first team players, but a proper succession plan from the youth teams to the first team. Otherwise, we are not far from referring to Kaizer Chiefs as the sleeping giants of South African football.
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