The bizhub Highveld Lions has the biggest support base among adult South Africans at 1,8 million, according to a report by BMI Sport Info on the popularity of franchise cricket brands in South Africa.

The news will come as a timely boost for the Lions as they prepare for a much anticipated Standard Bank Pro20 Final against the Chevrolet Warriors at AXXESS DSL St. George’s in Port Elizabeth on Friday night.

“That is fantastic news for us looking ahead to the final on Friday. The Warriors are a good team and we have the utmost respect for them, but we are not going there to be second best. It’s great to know that we have the support from our fans and we appreciate their backing through the bad and the good times. We will continue to endeavour to ensure that the spectators have a great experience supporting the bizhub Highveld Lions,” said bizhub Highveld Lions management consultant, Alan Kourie.

The Nashua Cape Cobras and Nashua Dolphins are next with 1,6 million and 1,5 million supporters respectively.

Based on their relative success over the past few years, one would have perhaps expected the Nashua Titans to be on top, but the Titans (sixth), along with the Chevrolet Warriors (fourth) and the Chevrolet Diamond Eagles (fifth) have similar support of between 820 000 and 870 000 supporters.

Speaking about the growth of the Chevrolet Warriors brand, Warriors CEO, Dave Emslie, said: “The Warriors and Chevrolet have been busy with activations throughout the season and we have tried to incorporate the fans in as many ways as possible. We have had player appearances, launched our new-look website and our Facebook Page, and we are proud of the way that the brand has grown. With the MTN40 title and hopefully the Standard Bank Pro20 trophy, the support will continue to grow.”

Cricket South Africa (CSA) CEO, Gerald Majola, said: “The improved standard of competition, which came with the introduction of the franchise cricket system, has reignited the support for domestic cricket, which we saw back in the nineties.

“The advent of social media has boosted interest in domestic cricket, and the emergence of rock star cricket talent around the country, has seen teams gaining support like never before. CSA wishes them well as they build their respective brands and contribute to our vision of making cricket a truly national sport of winners.”

An important observation in the report was the high number of cricket followers, namely 2.2 million or 23% of the total of 9.5 million cricket followers, do not support any specific franchise team.

BMI spokesman, Johan Grobler, said: “There was a distinct feeling during the research that there was even confusion among those claiming to support teams about the names of the Franchises in their areas.

“It must be concluded that at this stage confusion still exists about which Franchise name represents which specific area, and that a large percentage of cricket followers currently do not associate passionately with the teams they ideally should (i.e. living within their area).

“The upside of this is the opportunity that exists for those Franchises that can get it right (the marketing and positioning of their brand) to grow their support bases.”

The BMI Adult SportTrack Report showed that there are 9,5 million cricket supporters among adults in South Africa.  The support for the different franchise teams is as follows:

RANKING TEAMADULT SUPPORT NUMBERS

1Bizhub Highveld Lions1 821 000

2Nashua Cape Cobras1 601 000

3 Nashua Dolphins1 528 000

4Chevrolet Warriors869 000

5Chevrolet Diamond Eagles861 000

6Nashua Titans821 000

Total identified team support7 501 000

Do not support any specific team2 202 000

TOTAL9 703 000

Actual Cricket  Followers9 519 000