Poor funding, low investment rob Nigerian sports N500 billion revenue yearly

Nigerian Sports and its untapped resources

For far too long, Nigeria has failed to take advantage of its enormous human resources to conquer the sports world and create an enabling environment for sports business to thrive. While nations are hosting international competitions to declare profits afterward, Nigeria does that at a loss due to official corruption. Frustrating private investors in sports is routine and the process is constantly opaque. Christian Okpara, paints a portrait of how the country has lost billions in revenue yearly through neglect of sports.

Across the world, the sports sector’s labour and income-generating capacities are never in doubt. This timeless truism is further confirmed by the millions of young men and women, as well as, many others that make a living leveraging on its offerings.

In some climes, a sports stadium employs thousands of people, ranging from athletes, coaches, medical and sundry officials, and business operators, all of whom benefit from the periodic activities in the arena, either in terms of salaries, or the sale of their Goods and services.

Reports published by statista.com, which surveyed “income distribution of sport in England, from 2014/15 to 2020/21,” indicate that the total income generated by sports, including grants-in-aid, grants received, national lottery income, and other income, ranged from £83.222 billion in the 2014/15 season to £222.150 billion in 2020/21 circle.

According to the study, there are streams of income that cannot be quantified as it is difficult to measure such earnings. These include revenue generated by pubs and allied entertainment providers during games and other sporting activities.

In the 2021/22 season, the English Premier League (EPL) generated