What Media Group Backs Nigerian Football With ₦40bn NWFL & NNL Deal

What Media Group (WMG) has announced a historic ₦40 billion investment in Nigerian domestic football, committing the funds over a 10-year strategic partnership with the Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) and the Nigeria National League (NNL). The landmark agreement was unveiled at a high-profile ceremony in Abuja, signalling one of the biggest private-sector investments in the nation’s football history.

WMG founder Chichi Nwoko explained that the deal aims to provide long-term financial stability and boost commercial growth for both leagues, helping reposition them for sustained development, improved grassroots pathways and broader global relevance.

Under the terms of the agreement, What Media Group will act as title sponsor and commercial partner, with funds to be directed toward enhanced prize money, club subventions, better officiating standards, grassroots development and expanded media coverage.

League administrators, including the NNL chairman George Aluo and NWFL COO Modupe Shabi, welcomed the investment, saying the funds would be used to promote professionalism and ensure improved welfare for clubs and players. They also thanked the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the National Sports Commission for creating an agreeable environment for such private-sector collaboration.

Editorial

For too long, the story of Nigerian football has been a top-heavy narrative one where the zenith of the game captures attention while the foundations sputter for lack of sustained investment. The ₦40 billion commitment by What Media Group to the NWFL and NNL is more than a cash infusion; it is a declaration of intent that the domestic game’s roots deserve to flourish as vigorously as its international branches.

There is a paradox in much of African sport a continent brimming with talent, yet often lacking the structural scaffolding that transforms promise into continuity. Nigeria’s grassroots leagues the second-tier men’s competition and the women’s game have historically struggled under short term funding cycles and episodic attention. A decade-long partnership reorients this paradigm. It prioritises not just money, but stability.

In football, sustainability rarely arrives in torrents it seeps in through consistent support, visible pathways and visibility that nurtures aspirations. The decision to channel resources toward professionalisation, officiating, media coverage and development programmes acknowledges that the league ecosystem must evolve beyond matchday results and into a commercially viable framework.

For the NWFL a league that stands at the frontier of a global surge in women’s sport the investment could be transformative. Its ripple effects extend from player welfare and club infrastructure to broadcast quality and fan engagement. Similarly, the NNL, often overlooked amid the NPFL’s glare, now has a fighting chance to refine its competitive structure and lay clearer pathways for emerging talents.

What Media Group’s intervention is also a testament to a broader shift the private sector’s rising confidence in sports as a viable investment vehicle, rather than a philanthropic footnote. When business leaders commit to football’s long game, they validate its societal value and its potential to generate economic, cultural and developmental returns.

This is not a conclusion, but a beginning a realignment of priorities that may finally allow Nigeria’s domestic leagues to breathe, grow, compete and ultimately define themselves on their own terms. If the success of this partnership matches its ambition, it will be remembered as a watershed  the moment when Nigerian football began to invest where it matters most.

Did You Know?

1. Private Sector First This ₦40 billion commitment is among the largest private-sector investments ever made in Nigerian domestic football surpassing many previous commercial deals in scope and duration.
2. Ten-Year Vision Unlike short-term sponsorships, the deal is structured to last a decade, giving both the NWFL and NNL long-term planning certainty.
3. Women’s League Boost The NWFL’s inclusion highlights growing recognition of women’s football as a commercial and developmental asset in Nigeria.
4. NNL’s Commercial Pathway Before this deal, the NNL had secured a separate ₦494 million sponsorship from betPawa, reflecting a rising trend in league commercialisation.
5. Catalyst for Further Investment Sports stakeholders believe this partnership could attract additional private investors, potentially elevating other leagues and competitions across the country.