GreenHunters Sport Marketing Review.
It’s no
secret. Go to the newspaper vendor stand anywhere in Nigeria, by merely
flipping through the pages of most sports newspapers you will quickly observe
that the publishers report more of European football news, especially English
Premier League (EPL).
Perhaps, only half a page or at most one full page will be devoted to the domestic leagues. I am talking about Glo Premier League, Nigeria National League and Nigeria nationwide league combined, reported in just one page.
I don’t know
how scarce the news about our domestic football leagues can be, but China Acheruo,
Media officer of Dolphin FC, Port Harcourt said: “A lot of the sports
newspapers in Nigeria don’t have the capacity to cover the domestic leagues and
to undertake in-depth investigations of events, matches, players and other key
factors surrounding the leagues. They mostly depend on media officers and some
contacts they may have in clubs, to make up their reports.”
“On the other hand, EPL
management has properly used satellite TV to build a brand that attracts such
large global audience. The success of EPL in Nigeria could be attributed in
part, to the aggressive drive of the brand into Nigerian homes and by extension
viewing centers through DSTV and such broadcast TV stations as SuperSports,
ESPN, BBC, Sky Sports… Therefore, it’s easier for journalists to sit back on
their desk and get all EPL news at real time via satellite TV. The domestic
league doesn’t have such robust television and other media coverage.” Acheruo
explained.
Oluseun
Adeyemo, publisher of Arsenal Focus tabloid said: “EPL have a large fan base in
Nigeria and our publication is to meet their needs and wants. Over time, football
fans in Nigeria have developed such unquenchable love for EPL and other
European leagues. Take for instance, if you combine all the supporters of all
the domestic clubs in Nigeria, they may not even compare in numbers to fans of
Arsenal alone. Arguably, Manchester united and Chelsea may have more fans in
this country. As you know, sports publications is all about how many people
your newspaper can effectively reach.” Adeyemo concluded.
“Well, if
you want to remain in Sports publication business in Nigeria for a long time,
then you must learn how to give the public what they want to read.” Ade Ojekiere, Editor of Sports Day, explained.
“Nigeria
football fans are interested more in EPL and other European leagues. They are
the ones that patronize sports newspapers and in that premise influences which
newspaper(s) advertisers may choose to place their adverts. We’re talking about
your business bottom line here. It appeared that sports journalists gave the
public what they wanted to see and read.” Ojekiere declared.
“The
domestic league doesn’t meet the utility level of the average Nigerian football
fan, which is very much exposed to the spectacles of EPL. For instance, Glo
Premier League scares off spectators from attending the games, in large part
because of poor public image, resulting from match fixing, stadium hooliganism
and harassment… Muminu Alao, Editor in Chief, Complete Sports newspapers,
explained.
The other
part is the mass flight of players from the domestic leagues. Any good player
in Nigeria, may soon travel abroad to ply his career. This may be due to poor
remunerations and players welfare, resulting to poor general performances and
low standard of the entire league.
