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Which PSL football clubs have won the most prize money?

There are five competitions where football clubs can win extra income. Mamelodi Sundowns has won a third of the prize money in the last decade.

By mamaili.mamaila
Monday, March 14, 2022

Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila, 2021 Nedbank Cup winners. Photo: Nedbank Sport via Twitter

DStv Premiership defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns have had the lion’s share in all Premier Soccer League competition winnings, with a total of R100-million, won from 11 titles across all the domestic football competitions it has participated in since 2010.

Over R338-million has been up for grabs in the Premier Soccer League’s competitions since 2010.

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The PSL has 32 member clubs, they are separated into two divisions: the top-flight DStv Premiership and the second tier GladAfrica Championship (also known as the National First Division), with 16 teams each.

This season, clubs in the DStv Premiership division stand a chance to win a slice of R30-million from three competitions: the MTN 8 cup (R8-million), which Mamelodi Sundowns won in October, the DStv Premiership league title (R15-million), and the Nedbank Cup (R7-million).

Up until the end of the 2019/20 season, top-flight teams could also win an additional R4-million from the Telkom Knockout cup, however, telecommunications provider Telkom has since severed ties with the PSL, bringing the competition to an indefinite halt.

Meanwhile, clubs in the GladAfrica Championship division stand a chance to win a slice of R10-million from two competitions: the GladAfrica Championship title (R3-million) and the Nedbank Cup (R7-million).

Teams tend not to specify how they make use of the money won from competitions, but, Soccer Laduma reported in October 2021 that Mamelodi Sundowns players get a share of 80% of the prize money they win.

The remainder is split between the head coach and the technical team.

DStv Premiership

The prize money for winning South Africa’s Premiership title was raised to R15-million, from R10-million in the 2019/20 season.

Each team plays each other twice over a period of about a year, and the team with the highest points at the end of the season wins the premiership title.

Over the past 10 seasons only four teams have won the DStv Premiership title, each getting a share of the R120-million in prize money.

Mamelodi Sundowns, has won six titles since the 2010/11 season, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs have won two titles each and the now defunct Bidvest Wits won one title.

Mamelodi Sundowns, are the most successful team in the PSL era, with 11 titles overall. Last season, the team won its fourth consecutive title.

The DStv Premiership winner in each season (along with the second placed team) also gains automatic entry into the CAF Champions League, an annual continental club football competition run by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and contested by the top-division African clubs.

The minimum participation fee on offer in the DStv Premiership is R440, 000, given to the last-placed team in the league, which is subsequently automatically relegated to the GladAfrica Championship.

The rest of the teams are also awarded differing amounts, based on their place on the log at the end of the season.

GladAfrica Championship

The GladAfrica Championship title winners take home R3-million in prize money and gain automatic entry into the DStv Premiership.

There has been over R8-million on offer since the competition was consolidated into one national league from the 2011/12 season.

Each team also plays each other twice over a period of about a year, and the team with the highest points at the end of the season wins the first division title.

Before engineering consultancy GladAfrica took over as the sponsor of the first division in the 2019/20 season, the winning clubs would walk away with just R300,000 in prize money.

No club has won the championship more than once since 2011/12. Six of the winning clubs during this period are still playing in the DStv Premiership namely, Chippa United, Golden Arrows, Baroka Football Club, Stellenbosch Football Club, Moroka Swallows and Sekhukhune United.

There is no minimum participation fee for GladAfrica Championship clubs. The runners-up get R1.5-million, and the third placed team get R1-million.

Nedbank Cup

The Nedbank Cup, which is considered South Africa’s premier knockout competition, is based on the idea of giving lower league and amateur teams a chance to compete with clubs from the top league for the cup.

All 16 DStv Premiership teams get automatic entry into the 32-team competition, while eight clubs from the GladAfrica Championship and eight clubs from the third-tier ABC Motsepe League play qualifying matches to book their spot in the tournament.

The competition was established in 1971, and Nedbank took over as the headline sponsor in 2008. The most successful team in this tournament is Kaizer Chiefs with 11 titles overall.

Nedbank currently invests more than R20-million a season in the competition.

Since 2013/14, the winner gets R7-million. Before that it was R6-million. The minimum participation fee for the competition as of 2020 is R100,000.

A grand total of R74-million has been on offer for the winning teams since 2010/11, and SuperSport United has won R20-million of it from three titles, with its last being in 2016/17.

Apart from the prize money, the winning team gains automatic entry into the CAF Confederation Cup, an annual continental club association football competition organised by the CAF since 2004.

MTN 8

The MTN 8, which was established in 1972, is a knockout cup competition featuring the top eight placed clubs at the close of the previous DStv Premiership season.

This competition is often considered the easiest for clubs to win, as the winning team only has to play a total of four matches to clinch the title.

Telecommunications company MTN took over as the headline sponsor in 2008, and the minimum participation fee is R800,000.

The most successful team in the competition since its inception is Kaizer Chiefs with 15 titles.

A grand total of R96-million has been on offer since the 2010/11 season and Orlando Pirates has been the most successful team during this period, winning R24-million from three titles, with its last being in 2020/21.

Telkom Knockout

The Telkom Knockout Cup featured all 16 DStv Premiership teams, and was established in 1982, with Telkom taking over as the headline sponsors in 2006.

The winners prize money for this tournament was R4-million, with a minimum participation fee of R450, 000.

The knockout competition has since been halted following Telkom withdrawing its sponsorship at the end of the 2019/20 season, owing to Covid-19.

The PSL has not yet secured another sponsor, and it is unclear whether the competition will ever be revived.

Further, a grand total of R40-million has been on offer since the 2010/11 season.

Mamelodi Sundowns have been the most successful team during this 10-season period, having won R8-million from two titles, with its last being in 2019/20.

The most successful team since the inception of the tournament is Kaizer Chiefs, with 13 titles in total.

The data used in compiling this story excludes winnings from the 2021/22 DStv Premiership, GladAfrica Championship and Nedbank Cup competitions, which are yet to be concluded.