11th February, 2016
The partnership agreement between next generation network, Globacom, and the League Management Company, in which the telecommunication outfit sponsored the Glo Premier League for over a decade, has officially ended.
The last sponsorship agreement which started in the 2012/2013 league season ended after the completion of the 2016 Super Four football tournament which was held in both Kaduna and Uyo.
Globacom has been in the forefront of sport sponsorship in Nigeria since it commenced operations in 2003. Over this period, the company demonstrated its commitment to the development of Nigerian football by committing enormous resources to support the Nigerian national teams, the Nigerian Premier League and other football initiatives.
During the period, the telecoms firm spent over N8 billion to promote the Nigerian Premier League apart from the huge sums committed to sponsorship of the national teams and other sports sponsorships in the last 12 years.
The company has also been sponsoring the Nigerian Football Supporters Club since 2003, thereby ensuring that the club is always at the venues of tournaments anywhere in the world to cheer the league clubs and the national teams to victory.
With the coming of the League Management Company in 2012, Globacom renewed its sponsorship of the league worth billions of naira and supported the new management who went on to restructure the league.
Since then, the Glo Premier League has been on the ascendancy with many of the league players participating actively in national team assignments.
This is in addition to the smooth organization of league matches and improvement in officiating which led to the rating of the league among the top three in Africa, thus justifying the vision Globacom declared in 2012 when the last agreement was signed:
“Our vision is to see a consistent improvement in the quality of football played in the league; we also look forward to more Nigerians trooping to the various stadia across the country to watch and support their clubs in a safe and conducive atmosphere with world-class facilities,” Globacom said in a statement Thursday evening.
The League Management Company is expected to unfold a new multi-sponsorship arrangement which will see different companies sponsoring the league through different platforms.
The British Premier League and its title sponsor, Barclays, recently announced the end of their sponsorship agreement after fifteen years. The Premier League will from 2016/2017 season run without a title sponsor.