BRAND de Villiers is making headway at the PSL.

The league will report a profit for 2014 after multimillion-rand losses the past two years, although the former accountant shies away from taking credit for that.

In an interview this week, he said that since he had moved into the post in the middle of last year , his focus had been behind the scenes, like improving accounting practices and cutting costs where possible.

But he has yet to find a solution for one of the biggest challenges facing the PSL: selling tickets. "It's a complicated problem. There are many reasons impacting it," he said, citing the convenience of TV and the difficulty fans have of getting to midweek games.

As you'd expect, De Villiers has analysed the issue financially. Tickets might cost only R40 per match, but that is a fraction of what the average fan actually spends. According to the PSL's research, the average spectator spends R277 on a match, which includes about R90 travelling to get there and some R60 for food and drinks.

But, he pointed out, the PSL was important economically. He referred to an economic impact study that showed that the league contributed more than R5-billion to GDP and provided the equivalent of up to 11000 jobs.

The PSL paid 74% of its income to the clubs, through grants and prize money. Each of the 16 clubs in the league received R1.5-million a month, but De Villiers said this didn't go far once divided between 30 players, coaching and administration staff and other costs.

Some believe that the PSL should be increased to 20 teams to become more competitive, but De Villiers said that would not be viable. "A lot of the clubs are struggling financially, so to increase the number , you're dividing the same cake among more people ."