Lagos -Some stakeholders of the nation’s sports industry on Friday called for more involvement of private investors in the sponsorship of the local leagues.
They spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, at the ongoing Annual Sports Industry Workshop on “Bridging the Knowledge Gap.’’
The workshop was organised by Sports Pro at the Lagos Business School in Lagos.
Solomon Dalung, Minister of Youth and Sports said that corporate organisations must learn to absorb risk and invest in the sports industry.
“Every business is a risk and sports is a business, although there is an issue of transparency, the industry is still capable of becoming big.
“In order to take away the sports industry from the strong grasp of the government in the country, corporate organisations need to make that happen,” Dalung said.
Nduka Irabor, Chairman Board of League Management Company (LMC) also said the sports industry should be run by private firms, stressing that they should stop depending on government alone.
“All over the world, fans invest in major leagues and not the government; we need to see the loyalty and entertainment values in our sports.
“And the corporate organisations need to see their roles beyond corporate social responsibility and invest in our local leagues,’’ he said.
Danladi Verheijen, the Managing Director, VEROD Capital said that transparency, structures and attractiveness could pull private investors into the sports sector.
“The local league has the potential to become a very big business hub for investments because of its loyalty and monopoly features.
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“But the clubs must put heads together to make the industry more attractive for private investors,’’ he said.
Jamie Ruiz-Cabrero, Partner and Managing Director of The Boston Consulting, also said that sports is a business to be handled as a business.
“There must be private ownership through investors, looking across Europe, most sporting leagues are owned by fans.
“The loyalty that sports brings in terms of patronage can be a great asset to any business, there must also be a diversification for the club to earn more money,’’ Ruiz-Cabrero said. (NAN)