Football Fans viewing habits keep evolving in
Nigeria. Like in the past most free-to-air television stations no longer
broadcast live football matches. This may have affected the followership of low
income earners who couldn’t afford pay-TV.
I guess viewing centers across this football crazy
country may have made up for the lack, at least to some extent.
Most of the leagues are aired on cable TV, delivered
to lots of household via decoders from DSTV, GoTV and StarTimes… and through
stations like SuperSports, Sky Sports,
ESPN…
But lots of football fans in Nigeria would rather
prefer to pay N100 ticket to gain entrance into a viewing center, to enjoy a
kind of stadium atmosphere.
We at GreenHunters
Sports International decided to find out which are the favorite leagues
most fans queue to watch week-in week-out. A simple survey distributed to
various viewing centers across the country gave us idea:
- In Lagos State:
Premier League………………………………72% viewership
UEFA Champions League……………………71%
Europa League……………………………….52%
LaLiga…………………………………………44%
Bundesliga……………………………………..40%
NPFL………………………………………….39%
Seria A…………………………………………23%
- In Kano State
UEFA Champions League………………………70% Viewership
Premier League…………………………………68%
NPFL………………………………………….….64%
LaLiga……………………………………….……51%
Bundesliga………………………………….…….32%
Europa League…………………………………….22%
Seria A………………………………………….…21%
In
Rivers State:
UEFA Champions League……………………………86% Viewership
Premier League………………………………………84%
Seria A……………………………………………….63%
LaLiga………………………………………………..62%
NPFL…………………………………………….….42%
Bundesliga……………………………………………40%
French Ligue1………………………………………..32%
In
Abuja:
Premier League………………………………………78% Viewership
UEFA Champions League…………………………..76%
LaLiga………………………………………………..59%
Europa League…………………………………………55%
NPFL…………………………………………….……48%
Bundesliga……………………………………….…….40%
Seria A………………………………………………...31%
After complying our 50, 000 fans response from these
four geographical zone in Nigeria, we found out the following:
- UEFA Champions League and English Premier league are the most followed and viewed leagues in Nigeria.
- While UCL averaged 75.8% to rank first, Premier league averaged 75.6% to closely placed second
- LaLiga placed third, averaging 69.2%, with most respondent mentioning El Classico as the most favorite game in Spanish football.
- Bundesliga and Europa league became fourth and fifth respectively, averaging 43.2% and 39.6%.
- Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) placed sixth, averaging 35.8% and Seria A placed seventh, Averaging 35%
