Marketing & Sponsorship

Victor Osimhen, Asisat Oshoala, Finidi George, Sanwo-Olu Emerge Winners at 10th Nigeria Pitch Awards

Published

3 months ago

June 10, 2024

Victor Osimhen, Napoli FC and Super Eagles forward sensation made history as he starves off competition from teammate, Victor Boniface, Robert Mizo of Bayelsa United and Emeka Obiora of Enyimba International FC to emerge the Striker of the Year and King of the Pitch for the third straight year, making him the first player to achieve this feat on the platform of the prestigious Nigeria Pitch Awards.

Asisat Oshoala, the African Football Queen was voted the Queen of the Pitch ahead of Rasheedat Ajibade of Atlético de Madrid Femenino and Chiamaka Nnadozi, the Paris FC Goalkeeper.

The Award Ceremony began with a very colourful, energetic and exciting dance from the Akwabio Cultural Group. Leading the long list of dignitaries were Ibrahim Musa Gusau, President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, the General Secretary of the Federation, CP Patrick Ateyero, the CP Sports of the Nigeria Police Force who was standing in for the Inspector-General of Police, Nigerian Ex-international and the 1997 CAF African Footballer of the Year, Victor Ikpeba, CP Waheed Ayilara, Akwa Ibom State Commissioner of Police, Mr Oluwadare Ojelade, a Director in SIAO Partners, Finidi George and the entire technical crew, all members of the Super Eagles present in Uyo, representives of MTN Nigeria, GTI and other nominees.

The NFF President reiterated the Federation’s support for the Nigerian Pitch Awards while hailing organizers for the transparency and credibility displayed in the award process. Speaking on Nigeria’s 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualification on the heels of the Nigeria – South Africa qualifier match played on the 7th June at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo, Ibrahim Gusau, while appealing for support and prayers, assured Nigerians of the determination of the Federation and the players to secure a World Cup slot.

Speaking on the award process, Mr Oluwadare, the SIAO representative, stated that voting for the 2023 edition of the Nigeria Pitch Awards commenced on Monday 11th December 2023 and closed on Friday 19th January 2024. ‘The results’, he noted, ‘passed through 3 levels of scrutiny: They were collated and reviewed by a team set up specifically to handle this process … A second level of verification was done by another independent unit and’ thirdly ‘Quality Control’s Arm of the firm completes the rigorous but exciting exercise’.

Organizers honoured IGP Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector-General of Police who pioneered the introduction of football as an event in the finals of the 14th BIPOGA in Ibadan in February 2024. Also honoured were John Momoh, Chairman and CEO of Channels for the Channels Kids Cup initiative and Ibrahim Gusua, the NFF President.

In the Goalkeeper of the Year category, Ojo Olorunleke emerged winner ahead of Amas Obasogie of Bendel Insurance FC and Kayode Bankole of Remo Stars FC.

Ola Aina, Nottingham Forest FC and Super Eagles left full back was voted Defender of the Year to beat his Super Eagles teammates Calvin Bassey of Fulham FC who won it last year and Bright Osayi-Samuel, Fenerbahçe SK.

Alex Iwobi, in form Fulham FC midfielder emerged Midfielder of the Year ahead of Wilfred Ndidi, Leicester City FC defensive midfielder and Al Hassan Yusuf of Royal Antwerp FC.

Super Eagles Manager was voted the Coach of the Year 2023 for his exploits while he was Coach of Enyimba International FC where he led the team to finish top of the NPFL league.

MTN Nigeria was voted Best Corporate Sponsor of Football 2023 as the brand saw off competition from GTI Financial and Nigeria’s sports betting giant, Bet9ja.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Governor of Lagos State was voted the Football Friendly Governor of the Year while Lagos State emerged the State with the Best Grassroots Football Development Programme in the country in 2023.

The highly competitive Sam Okwaraji Award for commitment to the development of Nigerian football for 2023 went to Hon. Kunle Soname, the chairman of Remo Stars.

Full Result

Goalkeeper of the Year

Ojo Olorunleke – Enyimba FC

Defender of the Year

Ola Aina – Nottingham Forest FC –

Midfielder of the Year

Alex Iwobi – Fulham FC

Striker of the Year

Victor Osimhen – Napoli FC

Queen of the Pitch

Asisat Oshoala – Bay FC

King of the Pitch

Victor Osimhen – Napoli FC

Team of the Year

Enyimba International FC

Coach of the Year

Finidi George – Enyimba FC

Sam Okwaraji Award

Kunle Soname – Chairman, Remo Stars

State with the Best Grassroots Football Development Programme

Lagos State

Football Pitch of the Year

Godswill Akpabio Int’l Stadium

Football Friendly Governor of the Year

His Excellency, Babajide Sanwo-Olu – Lagos State

Best Corporate Sponsor of Football Award

MTN Nigeria

Sportsmanship Award

Hon. Kunle Soname – Chairman, Remo Stars FC

Football Journalist of the Year – Print

Johnny Edward – Punch Newspapers

Football Journalist of the Year – Tv

Mozez Praiz – Supersport

Football Journalist of the Year – Radio

Anthony Bekederemo – Brila 88.9 FM

Football Journalist of the Year – Online

Tobi Adepoju – Oganla Media

Author

Ambrose Ijeh

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Media

LaLiga Signs 2024-25 Broadcast Deal With China Media Group

Published

4 days ago

September 11, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

LaLiga Signs 2024-25 Broadcast Deal With China Media Group

Spanish soccer’s top-tier LaLiga has unveiled state-run China Media Group (CMG) as its official broadcast partner in the country.

Through a deal announced today, CMG returns as a Chinese broadcaster of the 20-team Spanish league.

The tie-up has come with the 2024-25 campaign already four matchdays in and follows a memorandum of understanding between the two parties in late July.

Last season (2023-24), LaLiga action was shown in China by the Migu streaming service, while rights for 2024-25 have also been snapped up by the iQiyi digital broadcaster.

Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, has said: “China remains a key market for LaLiga, and we are thrilled to bring our league’s unique passion and excitement to Chinese fans through one of the most influential media platforms in the country.”

Over the last few weeks, LaLiga has been scrambling to add more partners to its stable of broadcasters for this season.

Earlier this month, a significant deal across numerous African markets was unveiled with SportyTV, while mid-August saw BeIN Sports extend its exclusive rights deals across the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

Domestically, DAZN and Movistar are the main rights-holders through deals running between 2022 and 2027.

Sportcal

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Ambrose Ijeh

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Marketing & Sponsorship

TikTok To Sponsor Sports Teams Across Leagues

Published

4 days ago

September 11, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

TikTok To Sponsor Sports Teams Across Leagues

As the app continues to expand its sports coverage, TikTok is set to become an official sponsor of Washington D.C.’s professional sports teams across several leagues, with the social media platform to be the first to have its logo featured on the Capitals’ road jerseys beginning in the 2024-25 National Hockey League season.

Despite TikTok’s ongoing battle with the U.S. federal government, the ByteDance-owned company is rooting itself in the country’s capital via a multiyear deal with Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), which includes partnerships with the Capitals, the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, the NBA G-League’s Capital City Go-Go and NBA2K’s Wizard District Gaming.

In addition, TikTok will become the title sponsor of the Capitals 50th Anniversary Celebration, which it says will feature tentpole events and initiatives celebrating 50 years of Capital hockey.

According to Jim Van Stone, president of business operations and CCO at MSE, the multiyear partnership with TikTok aims to “grow the game, showcase our players’ personalities” and “engage with the TikTok community through content creation.”

A potential nationwide ban has not stopped TikTok from signing new deals with major sports organizations.

Last week, the platform announced an extension of its ongoing partnership with the National Football League to continue hosting exclusive content on the app.

And earlier this summer, TikTok captured the attention of golf fans this summer by hosting the Creator Classic, a nine-hole competition among the platform’s biggest golf content creators in partnership with PGA Tour.

In addition,TikTok built off its partnership with Britain’s Olympics and Paralympics teams to launch a new marketing campaign featuring standout UK athletes while highlighting the app’s behind-the-scenes connection to the global sporting event.

In general, TikTok has made a bigger push toward facilitating sports content on the app since releasing a report in 2023 that showed video views for #hockey, #basketball, #rugby, #volleyball, #football, #cricket, and #baseball up year-over-year, many up over 100%.

Adage

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Ambrose Ijeh

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Media

Belgium’s Pro League Launches Five-Season Domestic Rights Tender

Published

4 days ago

September 11, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

Belgian soccer’s top-tier Pro League has gone to market with a domestic media rights tender for the five seasons between 2025 and 2030.

The tender was launched recently (September 9), and the Pro League is being strategically supported by the heavyweight IMG agency – through a deal unveiled last October – during the process.

The deadline for prospective rights-holders to submit bids is October 16, with a Pro League general assembly to then evaluate the bids on October 18.

Interested parties can obtain the tender documents by contacting tender2025@proleague.be.

The 16-team Pro League’s domestic and international rights are currently held by global sports streaming service DAZN – which acquired previous rights-holder Eleven Sports in 2023 – in a five-year deal running through the 2024-25 season. Eleven tapped sports agency Mediapro to distribute international rights in partnership with the league.

In total, eight rights packages are available for purchase – three specifically for the Pro League (others cover the second-tier Challenger Pro League and various domestic cup competitions).

A new development in this tender is that the packages are platform-neutral, meaning they cover both linear and streaming rights.

In terms of kick-off times for games across the five seasons covered by the tender, meanwhile, the Pro League has said these “remain virtually unchanged.”

IMG, meanwhile, also has a contract in place to collect and commercialize the Pro League’s fastpath data in a five-year agreement with European Leagues running from 2022-23 to 2027-28.