Sports

Embrace concept of digitisation …Dr Bawumia tells sports administrators

The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has advised sports administrators to position themselves well to benefit from the opportunities of digitisation.

He said having failed to get the best from television revenue and sustainable sponsorship, the best way out for sports to thrive is to embrace digitisation.

Speaking at the 46th MTN Sports Writers Association of Ghana(SWAG) Awards on Friday on the theme, “Ghana Sports in the post Covid era, a business approach,” he said the concept of digitisation has become the norm for all sports brands around the world and Ghana must not be left out in that space.

“The digitisation agenda of the government offers sports entities in Ghana a unique opportunity to transform their brands and maximise their revenue streams through E-membership, E-ticketing and E-commerce,” he stated.

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Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, unlike other European countries and clubs, Ghana’s sports federations were limited in maximising the opportunities in television, sponsorship packages and E-commerce even as they played in empty stadia.

“Leveraging on lucrative television deals, sponsorship packages and other opportunities in the digitisation space had become indispensable to sports development in this era and Ghana sports must take up the challenge,” he stressed.

He said, the negative impact of the COVID-19 on sports in Ghana should be an opportunity for stakeholders to reflect and have a second look at what stakeholders had been doing wrong with Ghana’s sports.

“Ghanaian sports entities especially football clubs should be able to rake in more revenues from their fans even if they are a few thousands,” he stated.

“While big European clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United make millions of dollars outside their stadia through digitisation, lower tier clubs or community clubs also make appreciable income through their digitalized platforms to meet their relatively smaller budgets.

”This is possible in Ghana too. While Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko can make big money, teams like King Faisal and Bechem United can also make a lot of money to meet their demands through digitalized platforms,” he explained.

He said the moment to digitize was now and urged SWAG to spearhead the campaign to get sports entities to embrace digitisation which “is the new oil and gold for Ghana sports.”

He pledged his support towards the digitisation of Ghana sports and urged all stakeholders to get involved.

He also urged SWAG to continue to uphold the principles of its founding members and continue to promote sports while government was committed to provide an enabling environment for sports to strive.

BY MICHAEL D.ABAYATEYE

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