Created in 1999 by sport and entertainment leaders SAIL, this tri-series event has always featured Soweto rivals and Vodacom sponsored teams Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs as well as an oversea’s invitational side. As firm lovers of South Africa, the current fifth placed Barclays Premiership side Tottenham Hotspur returned for their third visit to South Africa, completing the triangle of competitors for the 2011 event.

The opening Vodacom Challenge game between Chiefs and Spurs was watched by an average of over 4 000 000 football fanatics equating to nearly 50% of the total TV audience market share. At its peak, this contest was watched by 5.5-million South Africans – proof that as an entertainment platform, it doesn’t get much bigger than this.

SAIL executive and Vodacom Challenge tournament director, Jabu Mathibela, is delighted with the public’s interest to date;
“The fact that the match between Chiefs and Spurs achieved a 29% higher share of the market than normal programming during the same timeslot is evidence that the style of football is something special. With Chiefs winning this match and Pirates drawing the second, every single football lover in the country is on the edge of his seat to see who will take the final on 23 July at Coca-Cola Park. Our ticket sales have been superb, as has our online activity and we predict that with tomorrow’s PE Derby, we will record another sell out both in terms of television viewing and hospitality.”

True to the form that this entertaining tournament has shown, sponsorship opportunities were snapped up in the early stages of 2011, with a host of sponsors knowing full well how LED advertising, promotions, brand association, hospitality and public relations all combine to form powerful marketing mix.

Mathibela concludes,
“On behalf of SAIL, I would like to thank the tournament sponsors : Vodacom, Daily Sun, Pep, Gauteng Provincial Government, Limpopo Government, Mbombela Government, South Africa.net, Eastern Cape Provincial Government, PRASA, SABC Sport and Avis. Rest assured that without you, this tournament would not have achieved its success to date.”

As the Vodacom Challenge heads towards home, results will no doubt continue to illustrate how this tournament is one of the country’s most prized sporting properties with its far reaching audience, nail-biting results and overflow of all things positive.