The Chief Executive Officer of StarTimes, Joshua Wang, has confirmed the cancellation of the pay TV company’s broadcast agreement with the Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, citing poor returns on investment.
The deal, worth N6bn, was signed in 2023 for a duration of five years. However, both parties have now ended the partnership after just two seasons.
Speaking in Abuja during an NPFL event, Wang explained that the economic realities made it impossible for StarTimes to continue with the project.
“Since StarTimes has been the broadcast partners of the NPFL, during the past two seasons, we have tried to meet our promises to promote and broadcast the NPFL,” he said.
“But unfortunately, we are here because of these economic issues; we are not making it as a business partner for the pay TV business to be sustainable. Everything is business; we don’t have the capability to continue. I also heard last week that our partners NTA have taken over the broadcast.”
Chairman of the NPFL, Gbenga Elegbeleye, also noted that the arrangement was subjected to a probation period which it failed to scale through.
“Signing with StarTimes that time, we said that the first two seasons are probatory, after that we would discuss again on how to go further,” Elegbeleye explained.
“Our last match in Lagos between Ikorodu City and El-Kanemi Warriors was live on NTA. We will still be going ahead with that until we finish the current discussion regarding the broadcast.”
Just last week, the NPFL board met with the management of the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, to negotiate a new partnership. However, the outcome remains uncertain following recent changes at the station’s leadership level.
President Bola Tinubu had earlier appointed Rotimi Pedro as the new Director-General of NTA on August 20, but later reversed the decision, reinstating Salihu Abdullahi Dembos to complete his three-year tenure.
