It was joy galore as the Nationwide League One (NLO) and Pipul TV signed a Title Sponsorship deal worth N100million in its first year of the three years contract, a deal that has been described by Mohammed Alkali , the independent Chairman of the NLO as partnership that will change the fortune of Stakeholders in the cradle of football in Nigeria.
According to him, the sponsorship deal with Pipul TV will lift the burden off the shoulders of majority of the club owners of which over 80% of them are in the private sector in Nigeria , stressing further that the league is a viable option for Corporate Nigeria to invest in with 189 clubs josstllng for honours at the three divisions of the league.
“ This Title Sponsorship deal with Pipul TV will change the fortune of the stakeholders in the league and it is a welcome development. This deal will definately reduce the burden incured by the owners of the clubs in the Nationwide League and it will interest to know that over 80% of club owners are private individuals, not government owned clubs” Alkali said.
In a related development , Ben Okoroafor, the CEO/MD of Pipul TV said that the need for strong local content necessitated the company to partner with the NLO, a league body that have 189 clubs across the Federation and he revealed further that Pipulm Tv has over 300 channels on its platform and it will be begin operation commercially in July everything working out fine.
“ Pipul Tv is in this business to give Nigerians value for entertainment and we have over 300 channels on our platform when we roll out our services by July, but the we needed strong local content all our platform and we believe that the best place to start from is the Nationwide leageu , a league that has over 180 clubs in all the geo-poliitcal zones in Nigeria” Okoroafor said.
Speaking further he said “It is hoped that the media partnership will strengthen the league and showcase the products of the league to the world , thereby increasing the fortune of all the stakeholders in the NLO. We are glad to be associated with Nigeria Football through the NLO, the cradle of football in Nigeria” he concluded.