Soweto Derby tickets sell out in six hours as 63,000 go on public sale

Tickets for the Soweto Derby between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs sold out within six hours, despite only 63,000 being released through the public sales platform.

The match will be played at FNB Stadium on 31 October, with Pirates hosting their long-standing rivals. Both clubs are currently in the top four of the Betway Premiership table.

Stadium Management South Africa confirmed that the derby will be staged at the venue’s full capacity of 87,000, although not all tickets were made available to the general public.

“The tickets are sold out; they sold out in six hours,” Stadium Management’s Bertie Grobbelaar told KickOff.

“The box office opened at 12:00 yesterday [Wednesday] and it was sold out at 18:00.”

The tickets were sold through the MyTicket system, which is being used for match purchases. Grobbelaar said the platform had performed well despite being a new system.

“Remember, there’s a new system. The system itself was immature, so with every event you learn and you develop,” he said.

“So, at the moment, I am very happy. No issues with the system yesterday. Now the focus is to make sure the event runs efficiently and seamlessly.”

Grobbelaar added that planning had now shifted towards managing the matchday operation and ensuring supporters could enter the stadium safely.

“Now we need to focus on the event day and the operational planning, to get the people in safe here,” he said.

He explained that the remaining tickets were allocated to other groups connected with the fixture.

“The derby will be in its full capacity, which is 87 000, but the platform sold 63 000 yesterday,” Grobbelaar said.

“The other tickets are for hospitality, sponsorship obligations and so on, but the full capacity 87 000 [is] sold.”

The sell-out underlines the demand for the biggest fixture on the local football calendar, with both clubs still competing on multiple fronts before they meet.

Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs have continental commitments as well as Carling Knockout matches to negotiate ahead of the derby.