By George Aluo
StarTimes Nigeria says they desire to add the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) to their array of sports contents.
David Zhang, the new Chief Executive Officer of StarTimes made this known to a cross section of media men in Lagos on Monday.
Zhang, whose working experience with the leading digital pay-TV outfit spans over 30 years, revealed that StarTimes have approached the League Management Company (LMC) and talks are ongoing for a possible fusion between his company and the NPFL.
“There are a lot StarTimes are planning to bring to Nigerian homes and one of those includes the Nigerian league matches. Let me inform you that discussions are going on. We have the Bundesliga, Dutch Eredivisie where Ajax Amsterdam is domiciled and doing great too. We were able to bring live the games of the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Russia to various homes across the country at a very cheap rate.”
Meanwhile, Nigerians will watch live matches of the forthcoming 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) billed for June 21 to July 19 in Egypt on StarTimes.
According to Zhang, “negotiations and bidding process are currently ongoing with the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) to bring live matches to Nigeria and we hope to seal the deal in good time. By the virtue of our partnership with the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) our subscribers can also watch the games on the free to air window.”
On the English Premiership which a lot of Nigerians follow, Zhang said StarTimes would give it a shot when the bid opens.
“For the English Premier League, the bidding process is every three years and we hope to give it a shot when next it is opened.”
