Star Lager, Nigerian Breweries’ foremost lager beer has taken another bold step to take Nigerian Football to a greater height by announcing a groundbreaking partnership with the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) on Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at the prestigious Eko Hotels in Lagos.
The announcement which came months after the League Management Company (LMC), managers of the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) announced a partnership with La Liga.
Speaking on the partnership, Marketing Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Mr. Franco Maria -Maggi said, ‘’We are excited to sign this agreement with the League Management Company that sees Star becoming the official beer partner of the Nigerian Professional Football League for the next four seasons.
‘’We have a longstanding claim to football in Nigeria, so it is only naturally for us to prove our love for the game by partnering with the Nigerian Professional League.
‘’This partnership is a win-win agreement that is going to exist for couple of years, we can assure fans of innovative and thrilling development in the years to come’’, he said.
In his speech, Chairman of League Management Company, Mr. Shehu Dikko said, ‘’The Nigerian Professional Football League has grown rapidly over the past few years and with the new partnerships like this, we hope to push it beyond expectations and make it the biggest league in Africa. Bringing Star to the table is only natural as Star has identified with football in Nigeria over the years.’’
‘’This partnership agreement with Star shows that there is opportunity for corporate Nigeria in our league and we hope that many more organisations will take advantage of football to reach their target markets as we continue to promote and develop in the country,’’ he said.
The NPFL, like many important leagues across the world, needs big corporate organizations to support its message of youth empowerment; at least 700 footballers are employed across the 20 club sides in the league.
The domestic league is the lifeline of the Nigerian National team. With this partnership, Star would inadvertently be helping to create a platform for young Nigerians to achieve their dreams of donning the country’s national colours.
As part of the agreement, Star would sponsor a football league feature games that would bring in foreign clubs to face a league all star team during its off season.
