Orbit in the money after promotion to Premiership
After making history by earning promotion to the Betway Premiership on Wednesday, Orbit College can bet on a better financial state next season.
The Rustenburg-based club beat Cape Town City 1-0 in their last PSL promotional playoff clash to raise their points at the top of the table to an unassailable eight. Orbit's playoffs rivals Casric Stars and City, who are both on two points apiece, meet next for the irrelevant last match of the round-robin contest.
For Orbit, being in the elite league means the club will receive a monthly grant of R2.5m from the league. The amount is a far cry from the R500,000 the Motsepe Foundation Championship (MFC) clubs get per month. That means Orbit will go from receiving R6m per annum to R30m.
Orbit are also guaranteed appearance fees in the Carling Knockout (R250,000) and Nedbank Cup (R250,000) competitions. And depending on how far they go in each competition, they stand to make a lot of money. The first prizes for the two cup competitions are R6,6m and R7m, respectively.
Even better, and potentially a marketing hook for sponsorship, Orbit's promotion means they have finally gave North West a club in the Premiership after a seven-year wait. The province is home to valuable minerals, including gold and platinum, and the mining industry is thriving with several companies operating.
After a decade in the ABC Motsepe League, the third tier, Orbit only earned promotion to the MFC two seasons ago.
The Mswenko Boys finished second behind Durban City in the MCF to qualify for the playoffs, while Durban earned automatic promotion to the Premiership.
Captain Atisang Batsi said they knew their time had come to win promotion.
"We said at the beginning of the season that this is our time and we made it," Batsi told SuperSport TV after the game at Olympia Park in Rustenburg.
"It means a lot to us, when we started the season, it was a little bit bad but when the season continued we became better. We are looking forward to playing in the Betway Premiership next season."
With the promotion done, Orbit will start their preparations for the Premiership where they will have to strengthen the team with experienced players.
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