By Dayo Awoniyi
With just days to the kickoff of the 2025/26 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season, GTI Asset Management and Trust Limited has revealed plans to unveil new sponsors and finalize a lucrative television broadcast rights deal for the league.
Speaking on the strategic roadmap for the new campaign, GTI’s Executive Director, Nelson Ine, confirmed that discussions are in the final stages.
“I’m happy to announce to you that a sponsor and TV rights deal is almost ready for the season. We’re just in the concluding part as the organisations requested more time to have everything sorted out,” Ine told reporters.
However, Ine also disclosed that there will be no take-off grants for the 20 NPFL clubs this season — a significant shift from the last two campaigns when GTI provided ₦200 million in total support, with each club receiving ₦10 million.
“With the sponsors and TV rights arrangement, teams will now have a share of the money which puts money directly in their hands. GTI was only doing that since there were no sponsors,” Ine explained.
The development signals a transition from GTI’s stopgap funding to a more sustainable sponsorship-driven model, one that league stakeholders hope will boost club revenues and enhance the NPFL’s visibility at home and abroad.
Samuel Ahmadu is a distinguished multimedia journalist and women's football expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He began his career at Goal.com in February 2014, where he served as an African women's football correspondent for nearly eight years. During his tenure at Goal.com, Samuel covered major events such as three Women's Africa Cup of Nations (2016, 2018, 2022) and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada plus 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. His work at Goal.com earned him widespread acclaim, particularly for his in-depth profiles of African football stars, notably Asisat Oshoala, whose rise he documented from her early years to her breakthrough at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in 2014. Prior to his role at Goal.com, Samuel freelanced for various print and broadcast media outlets in Nigeria, including Graphics Newspaper, Radio Nigeria, Grace FM, and Savid Newspaper. His extensive experience and expertise led to his appointment to the Nigeria Football Federation's Standing Committee on Women's Football Development from 2016 to 2018. Since February 2018, Samuel has been the Social Media Manager for Nigeria's women's national teams.In 2019, Samuel joined the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as a women's football content contributor and was promoted to Women's Football Editor in 2021. His contributions to women's football continued as he worked as a Media Consultant for Content Creation and Editorials at the 2022 CAF Women's Champions League. Currently, Samuel also serves as the spokesman for the Nigeria Women Football League, further solidifying his influence and dedication to the growth of women's football in Africa.
