Maritzburg United are on a major drive to attract sponsorship. They say they are not looking for the mega millions earned by the giants of the Premier Soccer League, such as Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, but enough to help them run the professional team and development structure in a smooth and stable manner.
This is going to be Maritzburg's fourth season in the top-flight, but the club have so far only had corporate help in the form of technical sponsorships.
This means the directors of the 'Team of Choice' have had to dig deep in their pockets to cover costs that are not met by the grant received from the Premier Soccer League.
Although clubs get as much as R1 million each month from the League, that money is easily eaten up by player salaries, which have increased dramatically in recent seasons, according to Maritzburg chairman Farouk Kadodia.
He says he understands that corporates don't just hand out money any more, especially in recessionary times like these, but wish to get a return on their investment.
The sponsorship has to be mutually beneficial, which explains why some organisations like Fifa label their sponsors as partners.
So what do Maritzburg have to offer the market place?
Kadodia says potential sponsors can look forward to dealing with a very professionally-run management that has sought to brand the team as a sporting face of the KwaZulu-Natal capital.
'Our club is run strictly on business lines, although the directors decided to engage in professional football as a social responsibility initiative from their individual businesses.
'We appeal especially to KZN-based corporates to help us keep football on a high in the province.
'They will get shirt branding and plenty of television exposure - at least 20 live games a season, part of which will be screened abroad by ESPN,' he said.
'There's also stadium advertising available, in addition to a corporate suite at our home base at Harry Gwala Stadium which is being rebuilt.
'We are open to any form of negotiation.'
The club have an academy where talented youngsters are housed and schooled, and embarks on as many social responsibility initiatives as possible, according to Kadodia.
Maritzburg will open their 2009/10 campaign with a match against SuperSport United at Woodburn Stadium on Friday, with coach Gordon Igesund confident they will be fighting for a position in the top half of the standings.