We are passionate about Nigeria’s sports development, says Xiao

AFCON 2023: Nigeria Super Eagles

With less than three weeks to the kickoff of the Africa Cup of Nations, Nigerians were worried that they would not be able to follow their darling Super Eagles through the usual channel following the outcome of the broadcast rights auction by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). But just when the fans were settling down to the reality that they would have to explore streaming outlets for their 2023 AFCON experience, from the blues came the information that satellite broadcasting outfit, StarTimes, has acquired the rights to televise the games in Nigeria.

So, with the games kicking off today, many Nigerians are now relaxed that they have opportunity of following their favourite team through the cities of Cote d’Ivoire.

This is not StarTimes’ first time of rescuing Nigerian football fans when it seemed that everything has been stacked against them.

For more than six years, the Nigerian Premier Football League (NPFL) was not on television, thus making it difficult for many followers of the local game to know what was happening in the competition. Although there was an attempt to stream some of the matches to interested fans live, it seemed that the local game was being left behind when such ‘smaller’ countries like Ethiopia, Zambia, Ghana and Kenya had their leagues on television.

Again, StarTimes came into the scene with a multi-billion naira five-year broadcast deal that has brought NPFL games back on the screens. Now, Nigerians and lovers of the country’s football from across the world have opportunity of following their teams every week. More importantly, the teams now have opportunity of marketing their operations and getting sponsors across the world to know the level of development