Bafana Lauded By Sponsors

One of Bafana Bafana’s sponsors has lauded the team’s performance this year as the national team played to packed home stadiums during their successful Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.

Nick Moyo, sponsorship manager of 10Bet, has said that 2024 has been an incredible year for the team, and they are delighted to be involved with the national team.

The company came on board in 2023, and Bafana legend Doctor Khumalo is one of the main ambassadors.

Moyo said that seeing the attendance for games across South Africa has been incredible, and said it was a great strategy to take the matches to different cities.

“I think that that’s just the proof point of what happened in AFCON earlier in the year,” Moyo told iDiski Times. 

“Before then, many people didn’t know that Bafana Bafana had gone through 20 matches and only lost two games. Those stories are not being told enough. And really they were quite surprised when people actually mentioned that. 

“So I feel the boys really did so well, the team, and player themselves and how they performed at AFCON, the character that showed. It wasn’t just the sponsors, I think, themselves, actually, through the work, obviously, in the squad and the performance, were able to make fans believe again, which is great.

“So I think as the tournament went on, as ourselves, we had a number of watch parties, insane attendance, because everyone suddenly, maybe not suddenly, but they were so invested, right? Because in the past, yes, they still had interest. But people stayed at home and like, ‘I don’t want to go to the stadium, this team is not performing well.’ But again, they didn’t know the team actually has been doing quite well, because the story is not told enough. 

“And then that’s now translated into the stadium, attendance, right? And I think that also has been, I suppose, a great strategy this past year from SAFA themselves, right, in terms of understanding what fans want and listening to fans. Because in the past, fans were saying, ‘This is not a national team. They’re always playing in Gauteng, right?’ And then just the ability to be able to say, ‘Okay, no, we need to take this team around the country and play in different stadiums and really showcase it is a national team.’ And I mean, that was a great decision by the Federation, and you can see the support that people have for the team through the stadium attendance on its own. 

“And I mean, if you’ve been at any of those games, people are so passionate, it’s quite festive and wow, it’s just mind-blowing what we see. And I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this for over a decade possibly. the attendance and the high level of interest the fan has around the team.”