The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has denied reports claiming it rejected a broadcast offer worth $11 million in favor of a lower-value deal. Gbenga Elegbeleye, the Head of NPFL, clarified that during the six years without a broadcast partner, no substantial offers were made.
Elegbeleye emphasized that despite announcing the league’s openness to offers, the only proposal received was a ₦1 billion offer from Propel Sports Africa for streaming services. As the 2023-2024 season approached, the NPFL secured its first broadcast deal since its previous agreement with SuperSport expired in 2016. The league signed a broadcast deal with StarTimes, valued at around ₦6 billion.
In response to allegations that the NPFL declined a more lucrative offer, Elegbeleye issued a statement: “When the Interim Management Committee, which I headed, came on board, there was not a single sponsorship for the league. We later secured an investment partner in GTI that guaranteed ₦1 billion for the season.”
Elegbeleye highlighted that the last effective broadcast partnership the NPFL had was with SuperSport, terminated in 2016. Following this, the league operated without a proper broadcast partner until agreements were reached with Propel Sports Africa for streaming and StarTimes for Direct Home Satellite Broadcast.
“These deals were not signed overnight but took painstaking negotiations that lasted for months because we wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do,” he said.
Elegbeleye continued, “We invested time and personal resources courting Corporate Nigeria to sponsor the league with our investment partners, GTI. Efforts were made to rebrand the league, including hiring a consultant for venue branding and building a website for viral exposure. So, where was this phantom $11 million briefcase offer at the time?
“We couldn’t have rejected any offer when we were practically seeking to entice SuperSport back, even succeeding in bringing them to broadcast the 2022/23 Super 6 Playoff.”
Elegbeleye concluded by stating that the NPFL remains open to partnership offers from credible sports marketing companies.
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