The popular South African sporting event adding R6.5 billion to the economy

The SA20 cricket tournament continues to grow in popularity, with its latest season contributing R6.5 billion to the South African economy.

Known as the Betway SA20 for sponsorship purposes, the Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament has been contested annually since the 2023 season.

Organised by Cricket South Africa (CSA) and contested by six teams from around the country, the tournament’s fourth and most successful season took place in early 2026.

Stadium attendance rose by 13% compared to last year, with 22 of the season’s 34 matches completely sold out.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape emerged as the victors of the tournament, securing their third SA20 title after defeating Pretoria Capitals in the final match.

SA20 League Commissioner and former captain of the South African national cricket team, Graeme Smith, appeared on 702 to discuss the economic impact of the latest season.

“This year, we brought R6.5 billion to the GDP and created over 9,500 jobs,” Smith said. “What I’m always trying to get through to people is the scale of the event that we’ve been able to build.”

“It’s almost like bringing a version of a world event to South Africa every year, and for me that’s the exciting thing.”

Smith said the tournament had created opportunities for people operating inside the cricket stadiums, such as food and beverage vendors.

He said many of these vendors had been unable to sell their products due to a lack of high-profile cricketing events in the years prior to the start of the SA20.

The tournament’s predecessor, the Mzansi Super League, had run for two seasons in 2018 and 2019 before being cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Those are the stories that you’d love to tell,” Smith said. “Everyone looks at the highlights, but the 9,500 jobs, building the communities, and seeing the fanbases get behind their teams is terrific.”

The role of partnerships in SA20’s success

Smith attributed much of the success of the SA20 to the tournament’s various partners, without whom he said the in-stadium experience would not be the same.

This includes a partnership with the Indian Premier League (IPL), with six of its franchises buying into the six teams participating in the SA20.

The IPL is widely regarded as the most commercially successful cricket league in the world and was ranked the 11th-richest global sporting league in 2024.

“We’re very fortunate with our six teams and with the six IPL franchises that bought into the SA20,” Smith said. “They are highly competitive, and they want to win.”

“The quality of the cricket that they bring out and produce has been amazing and looks good for this season. The squads are looking very strong and very competitive again.”

Smith pointed to the upcoming season five auction, which is set to take place on 7 October 2026, as something for cricket fans to look forward to before the start of the next season.

During last year’s auction, 23-year-old Dewald Brevis broke the SA20 auction record when he was bought by Pretoria Capitals for R16.5 million.

This surpassed the buying price of previous record-holder Aiden Markram, who had been purchased by Durban’s Super Giants for R14 million during the same auction.

While there are 19 player slots available for the upcoming auction, Smith said it was likely to be smaller than last year’s.

Aside from the IPL arrangement, Smith said the tournament was strengthening its brand partnerships to provide a quality experience for South African cricket fans.

“We’re working with Betway and our other partners,” Smith said. “We’re very fortunate that our sponsors and partners have bought into how fan-centric we are.”

“There’s always a giveaway, such as the ‘Catch 2 Million’, or Suzuki giving away a car, or Absa with their ‘Spin and Win’ to give away money to fans in the stadium, just to name a few.”