Nigeria Premier Football League agrees 5-year, 1.8bn deal with Startimes

The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) hits a new landmark achievement as the body of the apex interclub football competition signed a five-year deal with cable giant, StarTimes, to air league matches across the country.

This contract was signed between the NPFL board and StarTimes in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

The deal is worth N1.06bn and runs till the 2027/2028 season.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Ibrahim Musa Gusau, who led members of the NPFL board to the event, said that the football governing body will continue to ensure that the Nigerian league is broadcasted across the globe so that immensely talented Nigerian players can be exposed to the world of football.

“It was a promise we made when we came on board to beam football games on our screen and today, we are telling Nigerians that we have achieved that.

“We started with live streaming which will still go on. It was our intention to start this before the league kicked off but we wanted to do a thorough job as we wanted to do things the right way,” he said.

On his part, NPFL chairman, Gbenga Elegbeleye, commended the move, saying,

“Today is a major step to bring football to the homes of Nigerians. It has been months of painstaking efforts to ensure we bring our football to the TV. We look forward to exciting times in our league. Good times are back in the NPFL,” he said.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of StarTimes, Joshua vows to beam high-quality games to Nigerians.

“We have been in Nigeria for several years and we know Nigerians are passionate about football. We give equal opportunities to everyone and this has led to partnership with several football federations such as Rwanda, Tanzania and Ghana.

“We are glad to have secured exclusive rights for five years and we remain committed to developing football in Nigeria,” he said.

While explaining the terms of the agreement, the NPFL said the live broadcast of the interclub competition will begin on November 18 with two matches till February 18, 2024, while it will rise to four games till the 2025 season.