The match between Yangon United FC and Yadanarbon FC was fast and furious. It also drew in the biggest crowd to a domestic match in at least 23 years, the MFF says.

ENTHUSIASM among fans for the Myanmar National League Cup football tournament is bringing a taste of the famed and highly lucrative English Premier League to Yangon.

There are understandable hopes that the new competition will transform an amateur league – as it was when there were only ministry teams – into a professional competition that just might drag the national team’s skill levels up with it.

And while it’s only a short cup comp this year, when it becomes the Myanmar National League next year there are signs that it might bring with it something almost always associated with the English competition – big money.

Already the teams are owned and managed by some of the nation’s biggest financial movers and shakers – U Tay Za, U Zaw Win Shein, U Aung Ko Win and U Win Myint.

Cup matches have already generated impressive ticket sales, food and beverage activity, taxi hires and plenty of new shirt and poster printings.

But let’s start with the ticket sales
U Soe Moe, the communication officer of the Myanmar Football Federation (MFF), explained that some tickets are pre-sold but most are available at the gate. However, he said there is a plan to open sub-outlets at business centres affiliated with the eight clubs participating in the league.

U Soe Moe put the worth of ticket sales in context, saying that the opening match on May 16 at Thuwanna Stadium in Yangon saw about 40,000 fans cram in to watch. That number fell to 18,000 for the second match and subsequent matches have received similar audiences.

Ticket revenues are split three ways – each club gets 40 percent, with the remaining 20pc claimed by the MFF to cover costs, U Soe Moe said.

According to figures released by the MFF, ticket sales from the first four matches were worth K33 million, or about US$33 million.

If you take an average price for tickets – say K750 – the estimated revenues of K33 million would indicate that about 44,000 tickets had been sold in four matches. But adding up the MFF attendance figures gives a total closer to 85,000 spectators.

Even accounting for the fact that the revenue figures were just estimates, that indicates that an awful lot of tickets have been given away, perhaps as many as 10,000 for each match.

The questions of whether the league will survive without such giveaways, and can turn these viewers into paying customers will only be answered over time.

And of course the uniforms are all new too
Sports fans typically like to show their support by wearing team colours, preferably authentic shirts, hats and headbands with team logos and/or player names and numbers.

Of course, the manufacture and sale of such items – especially for this competition’s completely new teams – is big business.

Ko Ar Kar, who works in the dyeing and shirt printing trade, says it’s been a busy couple of months.

“We’ve been trying to strike a balance between charging a fair price and keeping our quality standards at levels that customers will b e comfortable with,” he said, adding that he’s received numerous orders for headbands for MNL clubs.

“It’s the first time that I’ve received so many orders and the market will develop more in the future as the tournament is in ongoing process,” he said.
Headband costs K500 and many are sold at matches.

U Sai Khin Maung Aye, the manager of Yangon United FC, said jerseys for the team were ordered and made in Thailand at both a higher price and quality than those being sold to fans, which are manufactured locally.

Daw Than Than Win, the general manager of Gémeaux digital art, said she had received team jersey orders from Yadanarbon FC, Yangon United FC and Kanbawza FC before the MNL cup tournament started.

“We had so many orders and had hardly any time to do them before the tournament started. We were very busy but had to work carefully to guarantee quality control,” she said.

“We made a total of nearly 20,000 jerseys in that period,” she added.
Yangon United FC and Zayar Shwe Myay FC clubs handed out thousands of jerseys to fans during their first match, artificially boosting ‘sales’.

As the colours of the team jerseys are issued by the MFF, some colours had to be ordered from abroad because they were unavailable domestically, she said.

She said her company had no choice but to outsource some of the work to different factories in order to finish the work in time.

Daw Than Than Win said she sees a promising future for the league and expects there will be plenty more work coming her way.

“Myanmar’s football fans are giving great support to their favourite teams by wearing club jerseys and I guess that sales of club banners, jerseys and headbands will surely be brisk in coming years,” she said.

She added that she’s also been tasked with producing graphic designs and displays for Aung San and Thuwunna stadiums.