Okay folks, so yeah we know corruption and administrative inefficiency is a bane in Nigeria football. However, I believe we can improve commercial revenue by doing just one thing right.

Here are the facts, in the 2010/11 Nigeria Premier League season there is NO team from Lagos State, the biggest commercial market in Nigeria and the most populous state.

In Spain, the biggest/commercialized cities guess what Madrid and Barcelona , you know the most successful clubs

In Mexico, the biggest/commercialized cities Mexico city and Guadalajara, most successful clubs Americas (Mexico City) & Guadalajara FC

If the NFF wants to make the NPL lucrative, self sustaining and attractive to sponsors then a club has to be "supported" in Lagos to become a continental champion. That will go a long way to change the league's fortune. The NPL needs a cash cow, like Barcelona and Real Madrid carries the Spanish league

Why Lagos?
Lagos has the population, meaning great talent pool from all works of life.

Lagos is the biggest commercial market in Nigeria, growing everyday

Stadium is already available.

Biggest companies are based in Lagos

Imagine if Enyimba were in Lagos, the fortunes would have being different, Great club but in a small market.

This is purely a marketing issue and has nothing to do with tribe or religion

With all the population and money, why can't Lagos get a team of their own into the premier league? it can't be automatic, let them play their way into the top division, this was how Barcelona and Madrid you mentioned got into the La liga in the first place.

honeric01:

With all the population and money, why can't Lagos get a team of their own into the premier league? it can't be automatic, let them play their way into the top division, this was how Barcelona and Madrid you mentioned got into the La liga in the first place.

You know teams like Real Madrid, were hugely supported by their Governments to get where they are today?
So a team like Stationary Stores could be revived by the NFF, by deliberately talking to the Lagos Government to support or look for new owners willing to spend. They can't just come up with the way they are run today. I would have said Julius Berger but its German oriented but Stores will go a long way. We need a cash cow and if money is invested and the brand managed, the league will reap success.

^^^^^

Have you ever heard of Eko FC?

^^^Of course but again they are not in the Nigerian Premier League, you do know Fulham FC and Chelsea are in the same London yet one is richer and more attractive to investors than the other.

Look at Egypt, most successful team Al Ahli is based in the city of Cairo (High population+High commercial city in the country)

In Sudan, A Hilal and Al Merrikh both based in Omdurman, once again highest population+highest commercial center)

This two leagues, based on field play not better than Nigeria but commercially they attract crowds and TV incomes, Why?

Holland's most successful club Ajax, again highest population+high commercial city center

This two phenomenon must be present for it to scale, the issue is not giving Lagos a free ride, it is about attracting the best revenue. I believe if Enyimba were based in Lagos, they would have helped the league commercially.

But none of the other local clubs you mentioned are in the premier league, so why not just concentrate on Eko fC, First bank or even Union bank?

Year after year teams play to remain in the premier league not matter how much revenue they get, they travel up and down competing to enter the premier league

It will be unfair to just bring one particular team from the lower league into the premier league-
Teams from Lagos should use their money to buy the best players so they can make it into the top flight


Look at QPR, they got an investment from F1 money bags and some rich friends, they set a target of 5years to get into the premier league
look at them now they finally made it

^^^Well, the plan is like a 7-10 year plan, bring a team back up to the Premier League, challenge for local titles and go continental. The FA has to take its numbers to investors and the Lagos Governemnt and show them the potential revenue.

The other way is to relocate a team to Lagos but that would be tough because soccer fans love history. Currently clubs with rich history are Shooting Stars, Enugu Rangers, Nationale, Kano Pillars etc. That said I believe without a team based in Lagos, it will be tough to make money. We need Team Lagos!

kcjazz its a great idea so u need to get ur idea supported by meeting with the right people say lagos state govt/FA,

Supported. Since anything we do interests other Africans. We can start of African Premiere league with the clubs we have now. I see this as being a huge success and bringing in heavy revenue for Nigeria. Government should support the local teams to bring them to international status. Or Continent status.

Hey guys someone on goal.com talked about this issue today

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2011/06/29/2552575/empty-stands-the-demise-of-the-nigerian-premier-league


This is a big deal but will NFF listen?

dream on,once the team starts making money,they will start killing themselves just to loot and kill the club

man smith:

dream on,once the team starts making money,they will start killing themselves just to loot and kill the club

This is strictly business. Corruption runs soccer from Mexico to Italy, it is a problem. But the issue is if I have to buy a club or advice an investor, the place to get that club is Lagos. If an Abramovic investor needs a place to get his return, Lagos is the market.

Of course, the NFF has to review the way clubs are run, reduce referee corruption and improve standards but all this alone won't change the league if we don't have a big team in Lagos. Lets have a big team first and every other thing will follow.

The Holland league plays sexy football, that is the home of all things sexy and football but the problem they are facing commercially is small population compared to say Germany. The German league is on another level when it comes to commercial revenues, it is #1 source of income as a result of a larger market of 80 million and strategically placed in Europe. On that scale, watch out for Turkey, they are coming up slowly.

this i have a problem with.if we alll know that corruption and favoritism is the bane of Nigerian football,why would you then advocate for the NFF to be biased towards one club all in the name of lagos being the commercial hub of nigeria or former capital.man utd is the most successful club in england and they are not based in london,barca has made a name for themselves but they are not in the capital of spain.As long as the stadium is not safe,the match officials always favor the home teams,pitches are nothing to write home about,the league will not bounce back.
back in the days,my dad was a die hard stores supporter while i loved bendel insurance to death(being an edo boy na) and we would go to onikan stadium to watch whenever insurance was in town and these clubs were successful then,bbc lionbs of gboko,stores,rangers, UP SOOTING,mighty jets,pillars,berger
all these clubs were financially strong but corruption from these clubs and the nff has contributed to the demise of the popular sport in Nigeria

Must we have a team in Lagos. I don't personally think the lack of a clubside in lagos is in any way affecting the economics of the NPL. Creating an automatic team in lagos will not be fair to other grade B teams that are trying to find their way to the top division. If lagos must have a team then they need to groom one that will go through all the hurdles like Gabros, Bolowotan, Bussdor are doing. Last time i checked Julius berger used to be in lagos. What kind of support did they get.

milehigh06:

this i have a problem with.if we alll know that corruption and favoritism is the bane of Nigerian football,why would you then advocate for the NFF to be biased towards one club all in the name of lagos being the commercial hub of nigeria or former capital.man utd is the most successful club in england and they are not based in london,barca has made a name for themselves but they are not in the capital of spain.As long as the stadium is not safe,the match officials always favor the home teams,pitches are nothing to write home about,the league will not bounce back.
back in the days,my dad was a die hard stores supporter while i loved bendel insurance to death(being an edo boy na) and we would go to onikan stadium to watch whenever insurance was in town and these clubs were successful then,bbc lionbs of gboko,stores,rangers, UP SOOTING,mighty jets,pillars,berger
all these clubs were financially strong but corruption from these clubs and the nff has contributed to the demise of the popular sport in Nigeria

Well the question is, are we making money today? The answer is No! At least not to our potential. In as much as I see corruption as a problem, fact is the Mexican, Spanish and even FIFA are corrupt but why are this ones making money and we are not.

Manchester United located in Manchester is an industrial town, the first industrial city in the world and had the first railway in the world, its growth coincided with the industrial revolution attracting workers from different places. Manchester UTD is a well run club, that stuck with its roots and even today teams in London don't compare, so this is the historical perspective to Manchester UTD.

Again this is not about Capital cities, it is about commercial + population markets.

afam4eva:

Must we have a team in Lagos. I don't personally think the lack of a clubside in lagos is in any way affecting the economics of the NPL. Creating an automatic team in lagos will not be fair to other grade B teams that are trying to find their way to the top division. If lagos must have a team then they need to groom one that will go through all the hurdles like Gabros, Bolowotan, Bussdor are doing. Last time i checked Julius berger used to be in lagos. What kind of support did they get.

Yes we need a club in Lagos. The city is the only Nigerian city where immigrants are more than local natives. Lagos has only won 2/39 titles in the NPL, issue is not about giving them a free role because they would compete Continental too in the Africa Champions League. As long as the present model is not working, we have to consider change and tap into the Lagos market. Yes, Julius Berger used to play in the league but again NFF never leveraged the marketing for the team

I am struggling to get your point.

What are you trying to say? that NPL of NFF should give any Lagos club automatic qualification to the premier league or force a club from another city to Lagos? what exactly? do you think if Lagos state actually wants a club in the premier league, they wouldn't have done it even with a governor like Fashola?

I really love this topic, Its really a pity that Nigeria premier league which is strong economic tool in Nigerian is left to decay. Any way Lagos is coming back as I just came across a story of Footballs youngest owner. CHRIS OJUKOKO JNR plans for Lagos City football. This is the website www.transitionholdings.com and this is the link for this news http://www.transitionholdings.com/news.html CHANGE IS COME

who will benefit from all the commercial goodies anyway? wont it mainly be the team based in lagos? The league might get more supporters but the vast majority of commercial interest will be for the lagos team

[/quote][quote author=kcjazz link=topic=701628.msg8619375#msg8619375 date=1309398210]
Yes we need a club in Lagos. The city is the only Nigerian city where immigrants are more than local natives. Lagos has only won 2/39 titles in the NPL, issue is not about giving them a free role because they would compete Continental too in the Africa Champions League. As long as the present model is not working, we have to consider change and tap into the Lagos market. Yes, Julius Berger used to play in the league but again NFF never leveraged the marketing for the team

Any particular reason why the NFF ( regulator) be marketing for a team? dont they have their own management who should be responsible for this?

Just maybe the teams irrespective of where they are based are not an attraction for the private companies, their mileage is too minute, plus most companies dont have customers outside of Nigeria anyway

The contracts for sponsorship should be re-modelled so teams can market themselves and their stadia without another round of court cases with Glo- they are in the habit of always throwing tantrums with court cases over everything they sponsor, they want to control everything like they are doing the teams a favour or as if NPL/NFF cant get others to match their offers

honeric01:

I am struggling to get your point.

What are you trying to say? that NPL of NFF should give any Lagos club automatic qualification to the premier league or force a club from another city to Lagos? what exactly? do you think if Lagos state actually wants a club in the premier league, they wouldn't have done it even with a governor like Fashola?

What I am saying is, the NFF as the owner of the league MUST deliberately seek investors and new owners for a Lagos based team
OR Support an existing team, to be based in the Lagos Market
OR Relocate a top team to Lagos

Bottomline: Lagos needs a team in the Premier League to help the leagues numbers, in an era of TV and commercial revenue, tapping into this market will change the fortunes of the league, it has never being done in Nigeria.
Its like a family with limited resources for its 6 children, and the parents decides to borrow/support the smartest child to go to the best school as a way to support the family. The plan is for 7-10 years, ending in African league success. It is the NFF that has to talk to the Lagos Government./or sponsors, it is that important.

Dis Guy:

who will benefit from all the commercial goodies anyway? wont it mainly be the team based in lagos? The league might get more supporters but the vast majority of commercial interest will be for the lagos team


Any particular reason why the NFF ( regulator) be marketing for a team? dont they have their own management who should be responsible for this?

Just maybe the teams irrespective of where they are based are not an attraction for the private companies, their mileage is too minute, plus most companies dont have customers outside of Nigeria anyway

The contracts for sponsorship should be re-modelled so teams can market themselves and their stadia without another round of court cases with Glo- they are in the habit of always throwing tantrums with court cases over everything they sponsor, they want to control everything like they are doing the teams a favour or as if NPL/NFF cant get others to match their offers

Who will benefit?

Everyone. Like the MLS and the EPL, the club ownership should be vested in the hands of the NFF. With having a successful team in Lagos, sponsorship revenue will increase and then shared among all in a structured formula. It also helps players improve their image rights, a player in a popular Lagos team can be Peak Milk's national advertising face, the way it is today a Kano Pillar player can't do this.

Teams will market themselves locally but on a national scale, it is the NFFs duty, this is why the NFF has a marketing department. E.g Globalcom sponsors the league in partnership with NFF, TV will be in partnership with NFF. Clubs can follow through with marketing with their local companies and also jersey deals will be clubs responsibility.

In England, international rights money is shared even to West Ham, when we all know that the Champion league clubs are the ones who promote all
Team Lagos is the cash cow,

First things first, being located in a country capital or commercial nerve center doesn't mean a team will be successful.
You cite the examples of Madrid and Barcelona but then what about other Madrid-ian teams or other teams out of Barcelona? Each of these cities have more than 4 other teams each in the Spanish League.

Also, you have to realize that the Spanish League can't be used as your yardstick because only the Big Teams command any form of financial power or meaningful sponsorship. The facts are available on the internet if you'll take the time.

Commercializing Nigerian Football takes a whole lot more than just pumping money into it. Right now all efforts by Glo (whatever sponsors they've had over the years) amounts to philantropy or giving of alms.

I know this may sound insulting/non-patriotic but it's the truth.

Teams still play in half-empty stadiums. They still source funding from state governments. Almost all need cash investment from government every season.

The fact is this. the money isn't the problem. Our understanding of football as a business is.

We understand football as a past-time. Some understand it as a sport. None understand it as a business.

Lets adopt the the lessons of the EPL.

Every team, so far as they're managed well can compete. Relegation is never the end of life.

Let us get full stadia during matches.

Let us have the media support teams.

Let us have teams create a massive fan build-up in their localities.

Then the finance will come.
Football has to be attractive to fans. Then it'll attract sponsors who always want to engage the fans.

And that’s where your finance/commercialization is. At the end of the rainbow/hard work.

Not before it.

kcjazz:

What I am saying is, the NFF as the owner of the league MUST deliberately seek investors and new owners for a Lagos based team
OR Support an existing team, to be based in the Lagos Market
OR Relocate a top team to Lagos

Bottomline: Lagos needs a team in the Premier League to help the leagues numbers, in an era of TV and commercial revenue, tapping into this market will change the fortunes of the league, it has never being done in Nigeria.
Its like a family with limited resources for its 6 children, and the parents decides to borrow/support the smartest child to go to the best school as a way to support the family. The plan is for 7-10 years, ending in African league success. It is the NFF that has to talk to the Lagos Government./or sponsors, it is that important.

It's not the duty of NFF or NPL to promote any team in Lagos, rather its the job of private individuals like you and I to take the opportunity, if you think it's worth it, you can do the filling.

tiwola:

First things first, being located in a country capital or commercial nerve center doesn't mean a team will be successful.
You cite the examples of Madrid and Barcelona but then what about other Madrid-ian teams or other teams out of Barcelona? Each of these cities have more than 4 other teams each in the Spanish League.

Again the issue is High Population + High Commercial cities in the leagues I have mentioned above NOT just Capitals. In the current La Liga season only Barcelona is based in that city. 4 teams in Madrid, Real (31) and Atletico Madrid (9) have won titles, top three in Spain. The other teams Getafe and Real Valecano are relatively younger teams. On TV sponsorship, all 4 teams are in the top 10 in Spain.

The Spanish league commercial revenue sharing is based on individual clubs but all that is subject to change in 2015. The La Liga will sign foreign TV money and we all know Barcelona and Madrid are the two teams carrying the international audience.

tiwola:


Commercializing Nigerian Football takes a whole lot more than just pumping money into it. Right now all efforts by Glo (whatever sponsors they've had over the years) amounts to philantropy or giving of alms.

I know this may sound insulting/non-patriotic but it's the truth.

Teams still play in half-empty stadiums. They still source funding from state governments. Almost all need cash investment from government every season.

The fact is this. the money isn't the problem. Our understanding of football as a business is.

We understand football as a past-time. Some understand it as a sport. None understand it as a business.

Lets adopt the the lessons of the EPL.

Every team, so far as they're managed well can compete. Relegation is never the end of life.

Let us get full stadia during matches.

Let us have the media support teams.

Let us have teams create a massive fan build-up in their localities.

Then the finance will come.
Football has to be attractive to fans. Then it'll attract sponsors who always want to engage the fans.

And that’s where your finance/commercialization is. At the end of the rainbow/hard work.

Not before it.

No one is asking for money to be pumped, actually the issue of this thread is to expand the market to include Lagos. Have you ever being to Aba Township Stadium? Is it not relatively full? Then why can't Enyimba run itself. Even this year, the Ajegunle Nations Cup attracted people to watch

That is the issue, successful team but in a small market. And like all strategy the goal is to seek ways to expand the market and Lagos is that market. As long as it stays unexploited, the commercial side of things including TV would be tough. If I have to buy a team in Nigeria two markets stand out, one is Enugu Rangers (Rich history and brand, good city) The other and more profitable is Lagos, and I think any team will do although history is good.
Understandably, standards have to be set but its not enough. I made an example with the Dutch league, great football but TV market is small compared to Germany, England, Turkey or Spain

Strategically, it is important and NFF has to market the idea for the leagues commercial survival.

kcjazz:

^^^Well, the plan is like a 7-10 year plan, bring a team back up to the Premier League, challenge for local titles and go continental. The FA has to take its numbers to investors and the Lagos Governemnt and show them the potential revenue.

The other way is to relocate a team to Lagos but that would be tough because soccer fans love history. Currently clubs with rich history are Shooting Stars, Enugu Rangers, Nationale, Kano Pillars etc. That said I believe without a team based in Lagos, it will be tough to make money. We need Team Lagos!

You have an excellent idea, this will put Nigerian football to a new level.

@poster,Your idea is splendid,well thought out for exploits,This shows people are actually concern about the pitiable condition of our league,but You must also have in mind that we must crawl before we walk,We need to go back to the drawing board and re-image,What about going back to the grass root ? What calibre of players are readily available in this targeted places you mentioned ? Its not about the population+size of city that matters here,its about attraction,people can travel to ikom from lagos just to watch good football,The best legs in the  Nigerian league travel to as low as sudan,liberia etc,A player caught ur fancy on saturday and on monday the same player you ar coming to watch again is on his/her  way to sudan for greener pastures,How many south african players can we attract to play in Nigeria ?

kcjazz:


The Spanish league commercial revenue sharing is based on individual clubs but all that is subject to change in 2015. The La Liga will sign foreign TV money and we all know Barcelona and Madrid are the two teams carrying the international audience.

No one is asking for money to be pumped, actually the issue of this thread is to expand the market to include Lagos. Have you ever being to Aba Township Stadium? Is it not relatively full? Then why can't Enyimba run itself. Even this year, the Ajegunle Nations Cup attracted people to watch

That is the issue, successful team but in a small market. And like all strategy the goal is to seek ways to expand the market and Lagos is that market. As long as it stays unexploited, the commercial side of things including TV would be tough. If I have to buy a team in Nigeria two markets stand out, one is Enugu Rangers (Rich history and brand, good city) The other and more profitable is Lagos, and I think any team will do although history is good.
Understandably, standards have to be set but its not enough. I made an example with the Dutch league, great football but TV market is small compared to Germany, England, Turkey or Spain

Strategically, it is important and NFF has to market the idea for the leagues commercial survival.

You made some valid points.

kcjazz:

What I am saying is, [b]the NFF as the owner of the league [/b]MUST deliberately seek investors and new owners for a Lagos based team
OR Support an existing team, to be based in the Lagos Market
OR Relocate a top team to Lagos

Bottomline: Lagos needs a team in the Premier League to help the leagues numbers, in an era of TV and commercial revenue, tapping into this market will change the fortunes of the league, it has never being done in Nigeria.
Its like a family with limited resources for its 6 children, and the parents decides to borrow/support the smartest child to go to the best school as a way to support the family. The plan is for 7-10 years, ending in African league success. It is the NFF that has to talk to the Lagos Government./or sponsors, it is that important.

the NFF does not own the league, the league is owned by all the state FAs and the private clubs are supported by their home state govt to an extent.

Seeking investors for a lagos based team might help the numbers but have very little effects on the the league itself, the league is not played by JUST one team, if the stadium in benue is still shoddy with no safe seats to pull people in, if 80% of the stadia used in the league are still not suitable for TV then introduction of any new team will just be a flash in the pan- cosmetic solution

if you support the smartest child to the best school and he ends up studying- history of arts or sociology best believe he willmight be okay, same cant be said of the family

hey once a Lagos team is successful then the eyes of Enyimba and other traditional teams will be forced to emulate their pattern of management and this will bring more rivalry on who the best team is, same thing happened in the telecommunication industry MTN started but now we have about ten networks and the biggest market in Africa, peace, I invite you all to join forces with the transition holdings team [ http://www.transitionholdings.com/news.html] in bringing a dramatic change to Nigeria premier league. kcjazz i will like to talk to you and others, hit me up@, cojenterprise@yahoo.com,

danny24:

hey once a Lagos team is successful then the eyes of Enyimba and other traditional teams will be forced to emulate their pattern of management and this will bring more rivalry on who the best team is, same thing happened in the telecommunication industry MTN started but now we have about ten networks and the biggest market in Africa, peace, I invite you all to join forces with the transition holdings team [ http://www.transitionholdings.com/news.html] in bringing a dramatic change to Nigeria premier league. kcjazz i will like to talk to you and others, hit me up@, cojenterprise@yahoo.com,

A team that has won the African Championship THREE times emulating a non-existent team with?
Even Chelsea with all the money still cant win the European cup

A team from lagos will be a great addition to the current league, but lets not get ahead of ourselves-- Hopefully with a team from lagos, the barrage of criticism from the state government, the lagos media and commercial interests will whip the NFF/NPL/Sports ministry into shape and perhaps they will be able to tap into top management material based in the state

DIS GUY, That is sports , more money , more success, you said chelsea has not won the european cup but count how many times they have been in the semi final and how much they have become a force in european football, check the records or is it manchester city who just won their first cup in like hw many years, every business has a market so sports has a market, this is the truth , no hating but anyway this is the beauty of the game, sum still dont like while sum like success, lol lol