TS Galaxy owner Tim Sukazi believes South African giants Mamelodi Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs, and Orlando Pirates are worth R1 billion as he looks at how much he had to pay to buy Highlands Park.
The former Nedbank Cup champions are set to campaign in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) next season and the former player representative says there's no chance you could buy the three giants for less than a billion.
Sukazi explores what determines the asking price between the seller and the buyer, after reportedly securing his first club in the South African top-flight for a whopping R60 million.
“If you’re talking Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates or Mamelodi Sundowns, then you’re talking something else, maybe even R1 billion,” Sukazi told the South African Football Journalists Association (Safja).
“There’s no chance you could buy Chiefs for less than R1 billion. You have to look at what’s there at the club.
“They have got a Vodacom sponsorship and maybe they spend R75 million or R80 million, alone. Then there’s Toyota and the rest of the sponsors.
“It’s a well-decorated club from a sponsorship perspective, which has got monetary value in it. Their sponsorships would be in the region of R150 million or thereabout.”
Meanwhile, the experienced lawyer also explained the reasons for his massive evaluation, saying player values have an impact on the pricing of a club.
“There are other things like player values and goodwill. The club has a rich history and that will count in the pricing model,” he added.
“The pricing of a football franchise depends on the willing seller and willing buyer model. However, there’s a ball-park range. A professional football status at the highest level of the game should cost in the region of R60 million or thereabout.
“And how does that price get arrived at?...the PSL grants that come in every month.
“You then look at the player value with that squad and the goodwill of that particular club.”
The Lions of the North will now relocate to Mpumalanga and became the second club to change ownership, after Bidvest Wits were sold to Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) and are set to relocate to the Limpopo province.
After reaching the final of the MTN8 last season under coach Owen Da Gama, the Rockets are set to be led by Dan Malesela in the 2020/21 PSL campaign.