Moses Mabhida Stadium: football partnerships for sustainable operations post-2010 World Cup

Efforts are underway to keep the Moses Mabhida Stadium (MMS) sustainable by partnering with football associations and professional football clubs.

The partnerships intend to generate revenue to supplement the stadium’s operational costs. The stadium was constructed as one of the host venues for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The refurbishment of MMS, which began on March 28, 2024, is also costing the municipality an estimated R284 million.

The municipality’s Community Services Committee adopted a commercial model to ensure the stadium remains sustainable beyond the World Cup period.

This model required establishing long-term, content-driven contracts to unlock economic activity through event hosting. In February 2026, the eThekwini Commercial Sport Facilities Directorate motivated the Council to enter into three-year mutually beneficial partnerships and agreements with associations and clubs.

Under these agreements, an allocated number of league matches, knockout tournaments, and national team fixtures would be hosted at MMS.

The first such approval was granted by the Council on August 31 2020, followed by a second approval in 2023.

“To ensure that the stadium continues to deliver value and meets its commercial objectives, the Directorate engaged the services of a research company to undertake an event impact study,” stated the municipal report.

This study is designed to measure the quality of event content, assess customer satisfaction, and evaluate the socio-economic impact that these events contribute to the city.

The municipality stated in its report that past contract studies revealed:

• While the events were leveraged to create brand awareness and address the challenge of low revenue conversion, operational and financial challenges were experienced under the existing contracts.
• The 2024–25 season saw minor adjustments to the contractual MMS content, with AmaZulu FC impacted by the MMS rehabilitation works programme and the PSL fixture schedule. In some cases, fixture clashes necessitated relocating AmaZulu matches to community stadiums.
• Both the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons recorded an overachievement in projected matches, as MMS benefited from Confederation of African Football (CAF) matches involving Zimbabwe and Lesotho, which were hosted at the stadium due to their home venues not meeting CAF standards.

• During 2024–25, MMS hosted two major PSL finals, the MTN8 and Nedbank Cup Finals, which contributed to increased stadium attendance and revenue generation.
• In the 2023–24 season, Royal AM FC relocated its home base from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, affecting the fixture allocation at MMS.

The municipality intends to continue partnerships with PSL teams AmaZulu FC, Kaizer Chiefs FC, and Durban City FC. Also with the South African Football Association (SAFA), CAF, FIFA, and the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA).

According to a finance committee report in February 2026, a semi-final match at the MMS in November generated R48 million in total economic impact, created 145 jobs and added R80.6 million to the eThekwini GDP.

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