LMC confirms new kick-off date for NPFL, plans for TV coverage

The League Management Company has confirmed a new date for the start of the 2020/2021 season of the Nigeria Professional Football League and revealed plans to have the competition return to television.

The league body announced on Saturday that the country’s elite football club competition will kick off on 27 December.

The LMC explained that the commencement date was decided on after consultations with the Nigeria Football Federation, the participating football clubs of the NPFL and Redstrike Media Group UK, the NPFL commercial rights holders and strategic commercial partners.

The NPFL has not seen any action since the 2019/2020 was cancelled midway into the campaign last March due to the spread of COVID-19.

“The Federal Government through the Federal Minister of Youth and Sports Development was also briefed in this regard which included steps to be taken to ensure full compliance with the mandatory COVID-19 Protocols,” the LMC stated on Saturday.

LMC added that the absolute need to ensure appropriate compliance with the clubs licensing regulations among other regulatory requirements resulted in the delay in commencing the league earlier.

“In line with the core objectives of the LMC-Redstrike partnership, which is to repackage and reposition the NPFL as one of the best football leagues on all parameters, Redstrike Group has engaged a reputable and experienced production company from Europe, which will deploy state of the art facilities and other equipment for the television production of matches and activities of the NPFL to meet world class standards,” LMC Chairman Shehu Dikko said.

He added that the production company will be working with other domestic agencies that have the capacity to deliver media contents of NPFL activities.

He added: “This will enable the NPFL, in line with the best international benchmarks, to have full control of its content to be distributed, marketed and monetized across all platforms such as OTT, Mobile, Free to Air and Cable TV to ensure the widest coverage that can generate appropriate revenues to the NPFL.

“The detailed and impressive production preparations have seen the assembling and engagement of very many Nigerians, technicians and other highly skilled football industry professionals.“These preparations include the development of the NPFL.TV App, an OTT platform/channel for streaming the NPFL matches, which will also house all the apps of the individual NPFL clubs and provide the best possible fan engagement among others.”

The NPFL was on cable television provider SuperSport for a few seasons before a dispute led to the coverage being ended.