NNL lines up new innovations to reshape league ahead kick off in October

NNL lines up new innovations to reshape league ahead kick off in October

The Nigeria National League (NNL) wrapped up its Annual General Meeting in Owerri, Imo State, at Rockview Hotel, on Friday August 21, as the league maps out bold path ahead of the new campaign.

NNL Chairman George Aluo who spoke to the media laid out a blueprint to reshape Nigeria’s second-tier football.

He outlined a progressive trimming of the competition’s size. Starting from 40 teams, the league has reduced to 34 this season, with plans to reach 32 next year.

“The talk about structure, we are looking at a situation where every year we continue to trim down, from 40, we came down to 36, from 36 we came down to 34, we are looking at next season to come down to 32, and where that will leave us is that, when we come down to 32 instead of four conferences, we’ll now have two conferences A and B of 16 teams each, that is where we want to be, this is the mandate that has been given to us by the president of the Nigeria Football Federation, so structurally we’re on a mission”. He said

On broadcast ambitions, Aluo confirmed a major TV deal with TopTier Sports Management (TSM), a company known for producing live events, including the Commonwealth Games. “We’ve signed a deal with “TSM, TopTier Sports Management” they are into TV production, apart from them doing football, they do so many other things, they were the ones that took the Common Wealth Games live to Nigerians on their platform, and our games now come out very clean on YouTube and other social media platforms”. We are equally encouraging the clubs to take these matches live.”

Aluo revealed a policy of approving only TV friendly venues. “What we have equally done is that we are only going to approve TV friendly stadiums, if you do not have a good pitch we’ll banish you. For every venue you will have an alternative venue, a club like Crown of Ogbomosho will tell us they are playing in Ogbomosho, we’ll ask them for an alternative venue so that if Ogbomosho is not good, you go to another place and play at your alternative venue, Bichi First FC the same thing, Heartland FC the same thing,” He added.

Night football is moving from concept to reality especially after eight clubs demonstrated capacity to host night games, opening the door for matches after sunset. Aluo framed it as entertainment that families can enjoy together, with an eye toward increasing attendance and engagement.

In terms of schedule, the league has set October 31 as the kickoff date for the new season, with the curtain-raiser featuring Heartland FC against Crown FC of Ogbomosho.

The move to more competitive broadcasting and live-night fixtures is all part of a broader strategy to raise the league’s profile and deliver a more compelling product to fans across the country.