Reduce gate fees to attract more supporters to matches – Kwabena Agyapong to clubs

Former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Kwabena Adjei Agyapong, is calling on Ghanaian Premier League clubs to reduce gate fees to attract more supporters to matches.

The former TV football commentator emphasized that it will make much more economic sense to reduce the gate fees than hike the prices.

Concerns have been raised about the low attendance to premier league games lately, especially of matches involving Ghana’s two biggest clubs, Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak.

Early this year, the Ministry of Youth and Sports announced it has begun a series of consultations with stakeholders to strategize on how to attract spectators to the various stadia.

The Ministry in a statement said, “Further consultations would be made with all stakeholders including the Ghana Football Association (GFA), the Ghana League Clubs Association (GHALCA), the National Sports Authority (NSA) and supporters for their inputs on the strategy to be adopted to address the situation”.

But four months down the lane, the outcome of these stakeholder discussions is not known.

The General Secretary of the Ghana Football Association, Prosper Harrison Addo, last month emphasized that attendance at matches cannot be the sole measure to the health of the Ghana Premier League (GPL).

Speaking to Luv Sports in an exclusive interview, Kwabena Adjei Agyapong said clubs should charge moderate fees at the gates since that can attract more fans to the stadiums.

“I think perhaps we should work with the clubs to also reduce the cost. I think that filling the stadium like Kumasi, with 50,000 people paying Ghc5.00 is better than making it Ghc20.00 and just a thousand or two thousand people, if you watch the mathematics,” said the former broadcaster.

“Times are hard, with all respect those who watch football are people who struggle but they love the game. They have to travel and now we know transport fares are high, they have to eat and so therefore the ticket prices we have to look at it, and then encourage them [fans] and let’s mount a deliberate campaign,” he emphasized.