BEVERLY HILLS, December 22, (THEWILL) – Comments recently attributed to the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, have made the rounds in sports reporting and have been mostly seen as timely.
During an inspection tour of the ongoing rehabilitation of the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos State, Dare harped on the need for the Nigerian Football League to design content around the league.
“Our football league must be Content Stupid to develop because football is content stupid,” the Minister disclosed.
“We watch the English Premier League, we are transported to Wembley through the power of television. It is clear that our domestic league cannot develop without content.”
Having identified the issue at stake, the enterprising Minister did not stop there. He enunciated the solutions being worked on.
“We have agreed with the NFF and LMC that there must be content in our League. We may not be able to cover or show five or six matches, but the content must be there. I have received an assurance from the LMC that there would be content.
“The content might be gradual, but there must be some clear markers laid down, especially now that stadiums will be empty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fans would be able to watch their teams play on television.
“Content must return so that our apex football league can develop and gain universal recognition”, the Minister concluded.
It is factual that content is king in every sphere of content consumption. The absence of material to consume is often the death knell of any form of sporting endeavour. A plethora of content that suits different tastes and a variety of sport enthusiasts is the condition for attracting and keeping viewers in search of entertainment in sports. In that, the Minister was spot on.
Yet, there is a catch. A distinguishing character of sporting content that will bring the kind of difference to the League that the Minister seeks is identified by the character of quality; quality in design, quality in format, quality in delivery, quality in commentary and all round excellence.
To gain “universal recognition” for the League, in fulfilling the Minister’s desires, the quality that has been the defining feature of the content that has made sports attractive in other climes cannot be divorced from the call for an increase in content within the domestic climate.
As the gradual development of content takes off in the Minister’s project and as clear markers are being laid down, it is necessary to borrow a leaf from the very high standards of quality in the content-rich production of sports from South Africa especially from their sports channels like Supersport on the Digital Satellite Television (DStv) bouquet.
By applying that as a benchmark, it will go a long way towards an improvement of content that is global in outlook, domestic in source and attractive in conception to fulfill the Ministry’s objective of bringing the League the universal recognition that can lead to further development, attract fans who are used to football in Europe and convince investors to back it up financially.
Quality therefore must go hand-in-glove with content development.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
