Football fans in the country have urged authorities in Nigeria to take a cue from Kenya where there is sharing of the exclusive rights to air English Premier League (EPL) with local high-end games.
More than ever before, the need to break the DSTV monopoly for a free-to-air arrangement has arisen. The Kenyans would readily explain how beneficial the steps they took in this direction have been and “this can also happen in Nigeria if the government through Nigeria Broadcasting Commission, NBC, could yield to the yearning of the people, at least by allowing it to be on free-to-air channels,” said Mr. Biodun Owoeye, a sports consultant in Lagos.
To the Manager of Glory Babes Football Club of Ibadan, Oyo State, Mr. Femi Akinoye, “it will be cheering news if there is healthy competition in the broadcast of EPL matches by both DStv and the local broadcasters; the market is lucrative because we have a large numbers of followers of English football in Nigeria. I’m sure everybody will have its share of the expected profit and more importantly breaking some unwarranted monopolistic tendencies which will be a great service to the Nigerian economy.”
Mr. Lekan Sorungbe also shared the sentiment of Glory Babes’ manager, he said: “with the rumour milling around that La Liga and other leagues will soon be on free-to-air channels in Nigeria, it would be healthy for EPL to follow suit.”
It is on record that EPL teeming fans in Nigeria were able to watch some of the previous EPL matches courtesy of the free-to-air deal. This is a pointer to the fact that, if EPL is not careful it would lose its viewers to other leagues.
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