SMSA – Keeping SA Venues Packed Out

After the injection of positivity that was so desperately needed for South African sport, and South Africa in general, the 2019 Rugby World Cup winning spirit brought back from Japan is now last year’s news. Can the country continue to attract fans into its stadiums? Is there a renewed optimism in sport after that heroic night in Yokohama in front of more than 70,000 people? For leading big venue facilities management business, Stadium Management SA (SMSA), the hope is that attendances will boom.

In January, England came to South Africa to contest at the top level once again – this time in cricket. After the test, many questioned why the venue seemed to be full of England fans with very few South African’s, despite home nation status. It is a problem which both the sport and those in charge of the stadium have had to examine.

For Johannesburg-based SMSA, historic and ongoing quality service, delivering high-profile events in some of the country’s most prestigious stadiums, has helped property owners to trust that their venues will be effectively managed, even when full to capacity.

Focussed on delivering memorable events in four of South Africa’s biggest and best stadiums (FNB, Orlando, Dobsonville and Rand), SMSA has become one of the continent’s most respected organisations.

On behalf of the South African government, SMSA independently funds the commercial business of these multi-purpose, adaptable venues which have become internationally known for hosting world-class sporting, entertainment, political and business events.

A complete integrated service package is delivered including finance and commerce, operations and facilities management, and event planning. Every aspect of modern stadium management is catered for. Sponsorship, advertising, retail, stakeholder return and investment, commercial rights management, support services, catering, hospitality, maintenance, pitch management, cleaning, waste management, security, health and safety, security and disaster management, local authority collaboration, transport and parking, technical and event management, and emergency and police services – without all of this, stadiums of this size would not survive and would never be able to attract top teams and large events.

MILESTONES

Since establishment in 2010, SMSA has achieved a number of major milestones. After the onset of the 2008 global financial crisis, many businesses scaled back in a big way, consolidating operations and looking to streamline to make it through tough times. But for SMSA, delivering consistent operational excellence has resulted in sustainable growth, bringing the company to where it is now, at the forefront of the industry.

Hosting a number of Soweto derbies – the country’s most anticipated soccer match – SMSA makes us of what it calls ‘the mecca of South African football – FNB Stadium’. Rumours emerged at the end of 2019 that the Soweto derby could move to Durban but the Chiefs quickly distanced themselves from the story stating that the logistics would simply not work.

Across its portfolio, SMSA has hosted some of the biggest and best events that the continent has ever seen, and it is FNB Stadium that often takes centre stage (remember the FIFA World Cup Final 2010?). This was highlighted in March 2019 when one of the world’s leading musical acts, Ed Sheeran performed to more than 125,000 fans across two days.

The spectacle was one of the largest of the year and the stadium was set up with one end blocked off for a large stage and three sides, along with the pitch area, flooded with people. Of course, for SMSA, this was a challenging weekend but the experienced business pulled it off without a hitch.

In fact, the event was so successful, SMSA was highly commended by partners. Big Concerts, the company behind the organising of the shows, made it clear that SMSA (and all involved through the Event Safety & Security Planning Committee – ESSPC) had been a part of something special. Big Concerts CEO Justin Van Wyk said: “This has been THE most attended music event in South African history, and we have been overwhelmed by the positive response from the public.

“Even Ed Sheeran, who is the biggest artist in the world and who has played over 150 stadium shows on every continent over the past three years, commented about the positive feedback he’s seen on social media and how successful these shows were.

“It would not have been possible without the collective effort and tireless work from the members of this ESSPC and their respective teams, and we can all be proudly South African about this tremendous achievement and truly world class event.”

SMSA were equally impressed with the collaboration, stating: “We would like to extend a big thank you to Big Concerts, the South African Police Service, the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, the ESSPC, and all our partners for your contribution to the success of the Ed Sheeran concerts, held at the FNB Stadium on the 23rd and 24th of March 2019.”

The event went off with only seven reported incidents ending up with police – mostly for minor offences relating to illegal sale of alcohol and theft. No major incidents were reported across the two-day period. Provincial Commissioner of Gauteng, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela offered his thanks to the companies involved as well as the public for a job well done.

“The standard of safety and security has been raised and must be maintained for all future events of this magnitude. This can only materialise through taking collective responsibility by both event-goers and law enforcement deployment,” he said.

Bertie Grobbelaar, Managing Director of SMSA said: “We would like to thank the SAPS for their service and continued efforts to ensure the spectators and stadia are safe during events. We value our close working relationship, and appreciate the efforts of each SAPS member in achieving these.”

AWARD WINNING

Because SMSA has been run with governance and ethics at its heart since the beginning, a culture of excellence has been developed which provides overarching standards within the business. Driven from the top by CEO Dr Jacques Grobbelaar, this culture has helped SMSA to become a multi-award-winning operation, collecting some prestigious titles along the way.

In 2011, FNB Stadium was given the Sports Event of the Year award at an evet in Barcelona for the FIFA World Cup final which was viewed by more than a billion people worldwide.

In 2013, the company was lauded by an entertainment industry body for successful delivery of many major concerts at FNB stadium, including Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Metallica, Justin Bieber, Bon Jovi and Rihanna, where more that 233,000 tickets were sold in a 12-month period. This award was followed up with further success in the same field in 2015.

2015 also saw SMSA labelled by the South African Trade and Industry department as a national top empowerment leader of business and industry.

For helping to grow the local, national and global economy, SMSA was awarded The Bizz Award in 2017, which recognises quality and excellence. The company picked up recognition across two categories: World Business Leader and Inspirational Company.

After much more success, the company was given the 2018 Stadium Business Award for quality and excellence with Grobbelaar also being recognised for his contribution to the industry.

EXCITEMENT CONTINUES

As always, SMSA is pushing for the best events with full stadiums, and to encourage rugby fans in 2020, SMSA in partnership with SuperSport and Stellenbosch Academy of Sport, helped to introduce new Marvel branded team uniforms and a Super Hero Sunday event, where the big clubs – Vodacom Bulls (Captain America), DHL Stormers (Thor), Emirates Lions (Spider-Man) and Cell C Sharks (Black Panther) – played in January and are participating in numerous initiatives to raise awareness and funding for local charitable causes.

“We have a new generation of rugby heroes in South Africa ready to make their mark in Vodacom Super Rugby in 2020,” said Mr Mark Alexander, President of SA Rugby.

“We’ve seen a re-energised enthusiasm for rugby in South Africa in recent months and that will spill over into 2020, when Vodacom Super Rugby will continue to impress with breath-taking rugby between the best players in the Southern Hemisphere.”

50,000 people turned out at FNB Stadium for Super Hero Sunday and displayed ongoing enthusiasm for the game.

“There is a good vibe in South African rugby at the moment. We’re all in this together and we’re all part of South African rugby, so an event like this is very positive. It was quite special to be part of this,” said Elton Jantjies.

For SMSA, this is yet another seamlessly organised event that epitomises what the company is all about – the smooth running of fantastic events. To date, the business is achieving its mission statement of delivering solutions that allow clients to maximise opportunities for venues or events by leveraging all available technical, commercial and business opportunities that produce clear and tangible benefits.

“We match our stakeholders’ ambitions and objectives with geographic, business and demographic opportunities, creating formulas for sustainable, profitable and active venues, and providing scalable and future-proof solutions by using the data and hard-nosed, unmatched experience necessary to make informed business decisions and to create viable strategies and business models,” the company states.

So, it looks like South Africa sport is buoyant. Despite Faf du Plessis admission that having more England fans in the stadium during January’s test did help to sway the result, most fans – especially those in Gauteng – can rest assured that Stadium Management SA will continue to do everything in its power to pack out its venues, driving the local and national economy while doing so.