Elegbeleye denies $11m NPFL broadcast offer, insists StarTimes’ N6bn deal best

Elegbeleye denies $11m NPFL broadcast offer, insists StarTimes’ N6bn deal best

The Nigeria Premier Football League has reiterated that the N6bn broadcast rights deal it signed with StarTimes was not just the only offer it received at the time but the best negotiated partnership that came after over six years of the league not shown on television.

The Head of the league body Gbenga Elegbeleye stated this in response to a publication that suggested that the NPFL snubbed an offer of $11m proposed by another firm.

When the Interim Management Committee, which I headed came on board, there was not a single sponsorship for the league, but we later got an investment partner in GTI that guaranteed N1bn for the season,” Elegbeleye stated.

“It is on record that the last effective broadcast partnership the NPFL had was with SuperSport and it was terminated in 2016. Thereafter the league went on without a proper broadcast partner until we signed Propel Sports Africa for streaming and shortly after StarTimes for Direct to 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 the NPFL had from the onset insisted that it was open to offers and actually knocked on the doors of several corporate organisations for sponsorship of the league.

“We spent time and personal resources travelling to court Corporate Nigeria to sponsor the league with our investment partners, GTI, and we invested in efforts to rebrand the league. A consultant was hired for venue branding, which offers in-stadium exposure to our potential sponsors and a website was also built for viral exposure. So, where was this phantom $11m briefcase offer at the time”, the NPFL chairman stated.

He added that the IMC wooed SuperSport with a view to bringing the South African broadcast outfit back to the NPFL.

“We couldn’t have rejected any offer when we were practically seeking to entice SuperSport back, to the extent that we succeeded in bringing them to broadcast the 2022/23 Super 6 Playoff.

The NPFL is still very much open to listen to offers of partnership in other areas from well-meaning and credible sports marketing companies,” Elegbeleye said.

Credit – Punch