NPFL welcomes Propel Sports Africa as new broadcasting partner

NPFL welcomes Propel Sports Africa as new broadcasting partner
Credit @NGfooty Twitter

The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) 2023/24 season is about to kick off. After a lengthy stay away from TV, there is a broadcast partnership for the popular NPFL.

The plan was for the league to kick off in August, but it was changed to allow the teams on the continent to play their first-round matches.

The whole idea was to avoid a situation where there would be outstanding matches.

The league organising body is working round the clock to ensure this season will be memorable.

One thing that has been missing in the Nigeria Professional Football League is the lack of broadcasting. It is hard to see matches live without going to the stadiums.

The League has had broadcast deals in the past. It didn't work for both parties, but it seems all that would be a thing of the past.

Propel Sports Africa partners NPFL

For many years, one of the best leagues in Africa – NPFL has been off TV. The absence from the airwaves was due to disagreements in the details of agreed deals.

All that is about to change, as one can now view the 2023/24 season from anywhere.

The Nigeria Professional Football League has entered a broadcast agreement with Propel Sports Africa to beam live matches to Nigerians.

According to the chairman of the Nigeria Premier League board, Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye, Propel Sports Africa will live-stream matches of the approaching NPFL season.

Egbeleye said Propel has deployed cameras to ten venues as a start-up.

The broadcast agency plans to have a camera in each Stadium eventually while they work out modalities to move cameras from one location to the nearest.

Egbeleye reiterates that the AI Cameras have been deployed, installed, and tested in Lagos, Ibadan, Benin, Uyo, and Aba. Other locations are Ilorin, Jos, Gombe, Katsina, and Kano.

Call for club cooperation

Egebeleye has also called on all NPFL teams to cooperate with the Propel team.

He asked the clubs to support this initiative, saying that all individual club streaming activity is no longer allowed.

Following the ban on streaming activities by the club, he continued that clubs will receive the data of all their matches, including individual analytics for each player.

Details of the NPFL and Propel Africa deal

The league management board is yet to make an official announcement concerning the worth of this deal, but feelers are that it is a massive one.

Reports suggest that the deal is about $5 million yearly.

According to the latest report, the deal is a partnership between NPFL’s Interim Management Committee, its finance partners, GTI, and Propel Sports Africa, which will stream the live matches.

The world’s most advanced AI technology is at the heart of this project, and the NPFL would be the first league in Africa to deploy the technology.

The live NPFL matches will be available via an app.

Egbeleye also stated that all the parties involved will make money from this project, and he is glad with their partnership with GTI.

He continued that GTI paid the clubs N10 million each, which is N200 million, and will also be directly handling the payment of referees.

He hopes the teams and players will earn more money and that this deal will attract foreign players to the NPFL.

This article was most recently revised and updated 1 year ago

Chooka Izuegbuna
Chooka Izuegbuna is a Sports Journalist with 20 years of experience in print, TV and Radio. He has worked with some of the top media houses in Nigeria, including NTA Network, Channels TV, TVC, Silverbird TV and MITV. Chooka broke his sports reporting teeth with The Game Football Weekly in 2003 as a cartoonist and reporter. Chooka has a passion for football and has been a fan of Enugu Rangers (over 30 years) and Real Madrid (Since 1996).
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