{"id":876793,"date":"2026-09-26T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=876793"},"modified":"2026-09-26T13:58:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T11:58:27","slug":"the-cheapest-sport-to-watch-live-in-south-africa-with-tickets-starting-at-r40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/876793\/the-cheapest-sport-to-watch-live-in-south-africa-with-tickets-starting-at-r40\/","title":{"rendered":"The cheapest sport to watch live in South Africa, with tickets starting at R40"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa has a strong sporting culture, with several local and international events to attend \u2013 all priced differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country’s sporting landscape comprises several disciplines, with rugby, soccer, and cricket among the most-watched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All three of these sports have high-level tournaments hosted in South Africa, which feature local teams and are generally well supported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In soccer, the country’s main tournament is the Betway Premiership (Premier Soccer League), which features 16 clubs, each representing a different area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also several other shorter tournaments which feature the same teams, such as the Nedbank Cup and MTN8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For tickets to watch Premiership games live, the price is greatly dependent on the stadium and the specific teams which are playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, a general access ticket to watch the upcoming Premiership match at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg costs R80.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For rugby, the United Rugby Championship is the highest level of competition for several of South Africa’s domestic teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This competition features domestic teams from South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Italy, and is played in stadiums in all five countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In South Africa, the matches are played in Durban, Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria, with ticket prices varying depending on when they are purchased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For upcoming matches in Durban, “earlybird” tickets cost R40, while the same tickets cost R50 in Pretoria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is common for ticket prices to rise as an event approaches, with the highest prices often charged on the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This practice is seen at most of South Africa’s major sporting events, making it difficult to draw a direct comparison between ticket prices across different tournaments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Price increases for popular teams or important matches are another common occurrence, as venues capitalise on higher demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the URC, for example, knockout matches at the end of the tournament are often priced higher because they feature the best teams and carry higher stakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International events<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Outside local competitions, South Africa hosts several international sporting events across various disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2026, LIV Golf hosted an event in Steyn City, Johannesburg, drawing large crowds and prompting the tournament to return to the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inaugural event drew a crowd of over 100,000 people, and early tickets for 2027 sold out shortly after being released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These early-bird tickets started at R774 for one-day general access, with higher prices for better vantage points and multi-day access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LIV Golf has confirmed that more tickets will be sold closer to the event, but has not announced prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2026 event was touted as a major success, with Sports, Art, and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie calling it a strong display from South Africa on the global stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Hosting an event of this calibre not only showcases South Africa\u2019s world-class sporting infrastructure, but also highlights the strength of our tourism, hospitality, and creative industries,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is about more than golf, it\u2019s about economic opportunity, job creation and inspiring the next generation of South African athletes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another international event held in South Africa is the Kyalami 9-hour, an endurance motorsport event hosted in Gauteng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tickets for this international competition are far cheaper than others, starting at R100 and rising to R150 for all-access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most popular (and most expensive) live sports events is Springboks rugby, where tickets regularly sell for over R1,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These events are often sold out, reflecting demand for tickets and demonstrating that organisers can charge high prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The high ticket prices have caused public backlash, with many arguing that the cost is too high for a national sports team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Springboks have previously addressed the controversy and said that they would review their ticket pricing ahead of the 2027 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa’s sporting culture is evident in its live matches and tournaments, with prices varying by event and discipline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":821072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"Instagram publishing failed: Instagram returned HTTP 400: Media ID is not available","_sma_x_post_id":"2103802023141412968","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2217224475764618","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[8454,5394,10419,26616],"class_list":["post-876793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-kyalami","tag-psl","tag-springboks","tag-urc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876793"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":877101,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876793\/revisions\/877101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}