NPFL and Afrinvest Team Up for Digital Growth and Revenue

Afrinvest is working closely with the Nigeria Premier Football League to improve digital growth, boost commercial strength, and help Nigerian football clubs earn more money.

This partnership was reaffirmed on Wednesday during the NPFL, Afrinvest Media and Marketing Workshop in Enugu. Media officers and marketing heads from all 20 NPFL clubs received training on branding, digital presence, sponsorship, and engaging fans.

The workshop, called ‘The Role of Marketing and Media Officers in Generating Wealth for Professional Football Clubs’, highlighted the need for clubs to reduce their reliance on government funds. They should build better digital platforms, gather reliable data, and create attractive brands.

Chief Davidson Owunmi, the NPFL Chief Operating Officer, urged clubs to embrace digital changes. He warned that poor data and weak online presence were stopping the league from getting big commercial partners.

“After the broadcast rights today, the next money-spinning or revenue-generating resource is data. We need to tell ourselves the open truth today. We have ongoing contracts, but do you know what they ask of us? ‘What is your data? Where is your data for the league?’ We don’t have it,” Owunmi said.

He stressed that every club should provide quality content and stats to help the NPFL build a strong central database.

“We need our clubs to be visible. We need your presence in the social space. We need all the clubs generating data because the NPFL only archives what you generate. If we have 20 active Premier League teams generating data from their clubs, it makes our own website very rich,” he added.

Owunmi also called on clubs to aim for financial independence. He said relying only on government money is not sustainable anymore.

“You cannot just depend on the government continuously. A dead media department is a dead club. A dead marketing unit is a dead club. We want our clubs to be healthy financially. Enough is enough. You cannot be doing the same thing all over again and expect a different result,” the COO noted.

Emmanuel Eleojo, the Manager of Afrinvest’s Enugu Office, shared that the investment firm’s support for Rangers International and its work with the NPFL are based on the idea that football needs good financial management to thrive.

“For us at Afrinvest, internally, there is this philosophy we call ‘Finance Meets Football’. That is how we have tagged our intervention with our partnership with Rangers International and now the NPFL. The success of the Nigerian football league is not really only about what happens on the pitch, but also the strength of those behind the institutions and clubs playing on the pitch,” Eleojo stated.

Amobi Ezeaku, the General Manager of Rangers International, praised Afrinvest and the NPFL for their efforts to secure the financial future of Nigerian football.

“I appreciate Afrinvest for agreeing to sponsor this workshop that is about to change our financial status as a league. Let us look at football with an open mind. We want to see the clubs’ jerseys all over the country. Media officers and marketing directors should be our backbones in terms of revenue generation,” Ezeaku said.

In a presentation called ‘Monetising NPFL Clubs Through Marketing, Sponsorship and Brand Investment’, George Isitua-Onukwu, one of the lead speakers, stressed that clubs need a clear plan for commercialization.

Isitua-Onukwu suggested creating a 12-month commercial calendar with specific deadlines for renewals, briefs, and reporting to build brand confidence.

“Clubs without a structured calendar for renewals, activation briefs, and reporting are, by definition, always reacting. People wear clubs when the club represents something they want to express,” Isitua-Onukwu added.