$7.5m Boost: Euromatch Signs 3-Year Deal To Become NPFL Title Sponsor
Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has secured its first major European title sponsor, with Euromatch unveiled in Abuja on Wednesday as the official naming rights partner ahead of the 2026/2027 season.
The European sports entertainment brand will inject $2.5 million annually, about N3 billion per year in a deal worth $7.5 million over three years. The league will now be known as the Euromatch NPFL.
The Group Chairman of Euromatch, Sacli Semih, said the investment was driven by Nigeria’s economic weight and untapped football talent.
“We are a growing sports entertainment brand from Europe, and football is our core product. Africa is one of the fastest-growing markets, and Nigeria is the heart of Africa. It is the biggest economy, in my view, with enormous potential. When it comes to football, Nigerian talent is the most underrated talent,” he said.
Semih said Euromatch expects returns to grow from year two as visibility and standards improve. A key goal is to align the NPFL with European benchmarks, adding that the partnership will spotlight Nigerian players at home.
“When we transfer the Nigerian league to European standards, under the name Euromatch NPFL, the visibility of the league in Europe alone will increase,” he said.
“There are so many players playing in England and other top leagues, but nobody comes to watch the league here. So, we are going to help people see the league. Doing that will also help our brand.”
NPFL Chairman, Gbenga Elegbeleye, called the deal a milestone for standards, attendance and global exposure.
He said the league will continue to tighten club licensing and regulations.
He also highlighted Euromatch’s digital reach, over 3 billion global views in one season, including 101 million YouTube views from Nigeria alone, as a channel to take NPFL players to a wider audience.
“We are going to see a lot of people now coming to the stadium to watch matches. Before, the idea was how can we convince people to start watching our matches. Now, we have the problem of how to manage the crowd, not to cause crisis, because sometimes there won’t be available seats and people will fight.
“What we are doing is more visibility for the youth, and that’s why we are here. We want to demonstrate the capacity of what we can do,” he added.
President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Gusau, said the partnership validates four years of work to stabilize the league.
He noted that stability, visibility and improved standards will further strengthen the commercial value of Nigerian football.
“I must say that I am the happiest man today because we have really worked hard for the last four years to ensure that we stabilise the league because it is the key. When you have a league where you don’t know when it will start and you don’t know when it will end, it is going to be difficult to bring anybody to invest his money in,” Gusau said.
The 2026/2027 NPFL season kicks off on Friday.
