Taking the NPFL global: The Elumelu prospect

ORUFUO EZAGA 

Orufuo Ezaga is the host of Sports Business with Orufuo Ezaga on Lagos Talks FM 91.3 and Plus TV Africa on DStv 408 and StarTimes 308. He tweets on X @Orufuo and can be reached on kennethezaga@gmail.com; +234 (0) 807 053 0677

When on April 7 billionaire investor Tony Elumelu set the Nigerian sports industry alight with a rather flirtatious tweet suggesting he had tasked a team with “evaluating viability” of owning a local football club, it offered a glimpse into a future of possibilities for the growing domestic football industry.

Nigerian football has languished in the woods for the last three decades while rapidly developing countries – aided by technological developments – pulled away as we failed to innovate accordingly. However, recent private sector interest and investments show increasingly better fortunes for the local game. 

The entrance of an investment behemoth like Elumelu into our football could tip the scales for the local industry and usher in a new dispensation of major private-sector-led investments into our club football and sports generally. 

The global Africapitalism champion belongs to a tiny league of Nigerians whose investments have shaped the direction of business and society since the turn of the century. Along with the likes of Femi Otedola, Jim Ovia, Mike Adenuga, Abdul Samad Rabiu, and the mercurial Aliko Dangote, they wield enormous wealth, power, and influence.

An Elumelu investment would almost certainly attract his kind to our football. This dynamic should lead to positive outcomes like inspiring credibility in our football, especially with foreign investors; mitigating government rascality in sports; ensuring sufficient capital to build continentally competitive squads; and generally leading to the all-round improvement in professional standards, including better governance structures and regulatory policies.

Our sports industry needs this muscle. Sport has been integral to the more progressive civilisations of our world for centuries, not just for its ability to promote the right values in society, but because of its unrivalled capacity to drive economic activity across virtually all sectors.

As social investments go, sport appears a favourite tactic for the world’s wealthiest. Billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Steve Ballmer, Rob Walton, Larry Elison, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Jack Ma, and Patrice Motsepe, have gained worldwide acclaim for investing in sports assets and properties like NFL teams, NBA teams, tennis events, European football, Asian and African sports.

In Nigeria, the private sector has been slow on the uptake, but laudable examples like betting tycoon Kunle Soname, owner of the Remo Stars football group, and young tech titan Shola Akinlade of Sporting Lagos FC, show progress. However, an Elumelu involvement would no doubt raise the stakes and send the most robust signal to the world yet that Nigeria is finally ready for sports business.

Ownership of a Nigerian football club would guarantee a long-lasting legacy. Decades on from their exit, the memories of clubs like Abiola Babes, Iwuanyanwu National, Leventis United and others linger in our sports history and interactions. 

A local club will also offer Elumelu a global promotional platform to give even more voice and timbre to his personal brand and diverse investments. Given the real power of the Nigeria brand, and depending on his interests, he could become one of the most recognisable celebrities across the football firmament – Nigeria, CAF, and FIFA.

The fun part is that our football will eventually offer him excellent returns on his investments. With his kind involved, it wouldn’t be long before Nigerians get behind our football again the way it was in the 70s, 80s, and part of the 90s. Should we find that level of fan support and engagement once again, the NPFL would – like Wizkid, Davido, or Burna Boy – become a global phenomenon attracting worldwide broadcast rights in the region of $250 million – $500 million annually.

A compulsory share of this purse is one way football clubs make money. Others include sponsorships and partnerships, gate receipts and match day commerce, merchandising, talent trading, as well as prize monies from local and international competitions. 

Four pillars underpin my faith in the business potential of our sports. First is our population: 220 million rumbustious and assertive people. Second is our economy, which is large enough to anchor a thriving sports industry. 

Third is our continental influence. As our music and movies have shown, when we get it right at home the rest of Africa buys into it. This theoretically scales up our audience to 1.3 billion people. Fourth is our pedigree. Even without proper systemic support, we have demonstrated that we can produce world-beaters across different sports.

It is a magic synthesis that can transform our sports into a mammoth industry with a global footprint. What we lack is the right combination of vision, knowledge, technical expertise, and patient capital. Find those together and find the code for the global sports vault. 

Who knows, one day in the not-too-distant future we could have an Elumelu on the world stage toasting his friends and associates. The occasion? A FIFA Club World Cup match between his club and European giants Real Madrid, coming after conquering Nigeria and Africa. Now, wouldn’t that be a moment for the ages?

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