Football, the world’s most popular sport has potential for more than just entertainment. Beyond uniting people, it’s a potent tool for economic growth, particularly when harnessed at the local level. By developing local football talents and building a robust local league, Nigeria can unlock a wealth of economic benefits that extend far beyond the pitch.
Honourable Minister of Sports Development, Sen. John Owan Enoh has recognised the untapped potentials of the local league and has set out to revitalise it by pushing for private sector investment in the league.
Recently, in a reaction to a question by a football fan on X (formally twitter), billionaire banker and investor, Tony Elumelu revealed that the Minister had reached out to a few of them regarding buying and investing in local football clubs. He said the conversation is ongoing and is moving in the right direction as he’s considering investing in the local leagues.
Elumelu’s position was confirmed by the Minister in a post in his verified X account earlier today. The Minister explained that Elumelu, the owner of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), showed a lot of commitment to the extent of reaching out to some of his friends in the private sector to share the proposal. He expressed optimism just as Elumelu that the push will yield results.
This discussion is long overdue. Getting people with the wherewithal to invest and build the Nigeria League into one of the most competitive in the world is one of the best things to happen to the country and continental football.
Local football leagues in most countries are today contributing massively to local economies. Revenue streams of football leagues are multifaceted, ranging from ticket sales, sponsorships, and merchandise, creating a substantial source of income for clubs, players, and staff. Thriving local leagues boost local businesses such as hotels, restaurants, and transportation services by attracting tourists and spectators from all over the world.
Besides, local football leagues also create employment opportunities, both directly and indirectly. Players, coaches, and administrative staff are directly employed, while indirect employment is generated through supporting industries like sports equipment, marketing, and media.
In the 2019/2020 Premier League season, despite the upsurge of COVID-19, the league, apart from providing about 100,000 direct full-time jobs, according to statistics published by the league, contributed a whopping £7.6 billion to the United Kingdom’s economy. This represents about 0.33% of the total GDP of the UK’s economy. A recent report published by the league shows that the value of what the local league contributed to the UK’s economy grew by £400 million in 2023.
Nigeria, despite boasting as the giant of Africa and with some of the best footballing talents in the continent (tapped and untapped) does not have a league that anybody is proud of. The dream of an average Nigerian football talent is to ply his/her trade in Europe, America, or recently, Asia. For those whose fortune keeps them within Africa, they prefer to have careers in South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, etc leagues than the Nigerian Professional Football League.
The local football league economy in Nigeria faces many challenges, ranging from limited funding, inadequate infrastructure, poor football administration, substandard officiating, insecurity, corruption, etc. Despite the massive economic potency of the league, successive administrations have done little or nothing to place it in a tragedy to compete with other thriving leagues within and outside the continent.
But this is set to change with the ‘Renewed Hope’ push to draw more investment to the league. To reform the league and improve its structure and format to increase competitiveness and excitement, there’s a need to upgrade stadia and training facilities to meet international standards, establish youth academies and training programmes to nurture local talent as well as enhance the league’s visibility and appeal to attract more sponsors and fans.
Although there’s still a long way to go, driving investment in realisation that a strong league is the backbone of a thriving football ecosystem is the right way to go. As investors respond to the call, the Nigerian league stands a threshold of a new era of a vibrant hub of football excellence, producing world-class players, stimulating the economy and inspiring a nation.
-Inyali Peter, Ph.D
