The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) has announced that the winners of the 2023/24 league season will pocket the huge prize money of N150 million.
📅 New season date confirmed
💰 Improved prize money N150MAs we await the the new season tell us the NPFL club is you are supporting , Do you think your team has what it takes to win the N150M 🤔💭? pic.twitter.com/1yQ4Dziguq
— Leagues Reporter (@LeaguesReporter) July 27, 2023
NPFL prize money for last season was N100 million which was won by Enyimba Football Club of Aba for finishing first in the Super Six Championship playoffs that was held in Lagos in June.
The other five teams: Remo Stars SC, Rivers United, Sunshine Stars, Bendel Insurance and Lobi Stars, also received N5 million each for qualifying and participating in the championship playoffs.
The new prize money disclosure was made by the NPFL Chairman Gbenga Elegbeleye at the inaugural meeting of the newly appointed league board.
Honourable Elegbeleye also revealed that the new NPFL season will kick-start on August 26.
The winner of the 2023/24 NPFL will go home with ₦150 million prize money as the league's strategic partner, GTI, plans to spend ₦5 billion in the new league season.
According to the league's strategic partner, GTI Asset Management and Trust Limited, close to N1 billion was spent to put together the league last season, and it plans to scale up the investment in the league next season with ₦5 billion.
While the 2022/23 NPFL season was an abridged league with the 20 teams paired into Groups “A” and “B” of ten teams each, the 2023/24 season will operate the usual league format of 38 rounds.
However, with Enyimba pocketing N100 million last season, and the winner of the 2023/24 NPFL season set to take home N150 million, the NPFL prize money in contrast to what Manchester City got last season for winning the Premier League is a huge difference.
Comparing NPFL and Premier League Prize Money
Although the prize money for the 2023/24 Premier League season is not out, we're going to compare what Man City got last season with what NPFL winners will get in the 2023/24 season.
Pep Guardiola's City side got £44 million for winning the English top-flight league last campaign. Converting that amount in Naira amounts to ₦43.9 billion with current exchange rate of £1 to ₦999.
The ₦150 million champions of the NPFL 2023/24 season will get dwarfs in comparison to the prize money Man City received last season for winning the Premier League.
The difference is a staggering ₦43.8 billion, showing how miles away the Premier League sponsorship and overall structure is to the Nigerian league.
The NPFL cannot compare to the EPL or any of the big leagues in Africa for the time being; but the league is in a transition phase, and with proper investment and management the league can grow to be bigger than it is, creating room for increment in its prize money in the next coming years.
According to the revelation made by the league's strategic partners, ₦5 billion has been set aside to successfully run the 2023/24 NPFL season.
GTI Asset Management and Trust Limited, released this investment opportunity for partners/sponsors of the NPFL because they want to build on the success achieved at the concluded 2022/23 season and to reposition the league using international best practices as a guide.
Some of this money will be used to broadcast more of the league's matches live on TV. This means that most of the NPFL games will have coverage for the entire season.
Actions from the NPFL being brought live to millions of Nigerians for a whole season will drive appeal amongst lovers of football in the country to know more about the league, and will also increase turnouts in the stadiums for people who wish to see the matches live.
NPFL sponsors
At the time of writing, Eunisell, Bet9ja and Hero Lager are sponsors of the NPFL. GTI will work with these sponsors and other stakeholders of the league to promote the NPFL and make it reach international best practices in the coming years.
This article was most recently revised and updated 1 year ago