This illustrates perfectly a disconnect in Ghanaian sports between potential and execution – a lack of ability to apply multi faceted approaches to revenue mobilisation and utilisation.
Hearts of Oak play at the 40,000 capacity Accra Sports Stadium and in the olden days, routinely filled it for the big games. The number of fans who are dedicated enough to enter a stadium does not add up to 5% of any major club’s fan base. So for a club as big as Hearts of Oak, having 1m followers on social media should not be a big deal.
Instead the club is now hitting 50,000 on Facebook, and that is after a sustained recent drive to revolutionise their social media pages. The official Hearts of Oak page is one of the best in the country in keeping fans involved, which is the reason for this ‘success’.
So even though they’re doing well, they aren’t doing anything near enough. And the fact that they blow everyone else out of the water is an indictment on the Ghanaian league.
There are many question marks over why our league is far from successful – question marks raised by none other that the current sports Minister. Social media is one of the avenues for exciting people that is barely being utilised by not just the clubs, but the league as a whole.
So congrats to Hearts. They are the best in a mediocre field. But they can, and should do, better.