The sky is the limit for Sundowns

No self-respecting marketing company with money to burn could have resisted the temptation on Thursday to send the media on a 45-minute jaunt around Pretoria, Hartebeespoort and Pilansburg in a 72-seater DC 9 jet liner from Lanseria Airport as part of the ballyhoo surrounding the announcement of MTN's multi-million rand sponsorship of Mamelodi Sundowns.

After all, the slogan of Pretoria's PSL glamour club is "the sky is the limit", and this, for sure, was a three-year deal engineered with more than a degree of heavenly delight by officials of both Sundowns and MTN.

It heralded what is sure to become an all-out soccer war between MTN and Vodacom, who sponsor Sundowns' most affluent rivals, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, with the jealous battle for supremacy intensifying among both the cellular giants and the fierce soccer rivals.

MTN, who previously sponsored the PSL's subsidiary first division, also had good cause to be aggrieved when the professional soccer body renaged on a promise to grant them the right to sponsor the Charity Spectacular - in favour of a company linked to Pirates and Chiefs sponsors Vodacom.

Little wonder Sundowns president, Patrice Motsepe, declared the new soccer partnership was a marriage that was destined to be consummated - with Sundowns long battling to secure a major outside backer to match those of rivals Pirates and Chiefs and supplement the not inconsiderable wealth injected into the club by their mining magnate owner.

The exact amount of the new sponsorship, which was announced by MTN managing-director Maanda Manyatshe, was not officially released - "in keeping with MTN's policy," said public relations senior manager, Mandisa Korri.

But the wise sages and speculators were suggesting Sundowns would receive an amount in the vicinity of R12-million annually as they attempt to regain the position of dominance they enjoyed in the Premier League while annexing the PSL championship for three successive seasons at the turn of the century.

And Thursday's air spree alone is said to have cost Sundowns' new sponsors something like R500 000. - Sapa