Sports Business Brand Latest Brand News, Sports, Entertainment, Marketing, Sponsorships
By Ojeikere Aikhoje,
Publisher, sportbusinessbrand.com
Eunisell Boot 2019 joint-winners, Mfon Udoh and Sunusi Ibrahim
In the ever-evolving world of football, storytelling and branding are just as important as skill and goals.
Awards, especially those that come from independent sources, play a huge role in shaping public perception, building player prestige, and enhancing league visibility.
Independently organised football awards have played a significant role in enabling the biggest football competitions and leagues in the world gain brand appeal globally.
Super Eagles striker, Tolu Arokadare, receiving his 2025 Ebony Shoe as best African Player in Belgium Pro League from Vincent Kompany’s father.
It is remarkable that the biggest football awards in the world are organised by media organisations who have shaped conversations to ensure these leagues gain acceptability.
With the capability to set agenda for the game, media organisations use awards to create the right narratives for brands.
It enhances emotional connection. Ultimately, brand appeal is a key driver of brand preference and loyalty.
2022 Eunisell Boot winner, Chijioke Akuneto, his wife and son got a five-star treatment at the impressive Cactus Restaurant, Victoria, Island, when he was introduced to the management by MatchRoom Sports and Media Brand Team.
A strong brand appeal can drive customer loyalty, positive word-of-mouth, and ultimately, business success.
Overtime, these conversations help to recruit and retain consumers who eventually become brand evangelists, sharing their positive experiences and encouraging others to try it.
With the NPFL struggling to gain attention of consumers of football in Nigeria, sponsor and organiser of the Eunisell Boot should be celebrated for their nationalistic effort to build emotional connections for a Nigerian product.
Describing a CSR event to enhance the NPFL as “illegal” is an indication that the brand managers lack understanding of effective brand communication.
Soft power is imperative if the NPFL desires to attract more consumers with stiff competition from foreign leagues. Moreover, the success of the NPFL will translate to Nigeria’s appeal.
2022 Eunisell Boot Winner, Chijioke Akuneto
It not only sends the wrong message to potential consumers of the NPFL who have since found solace in consuming better brand messaging from European leagues and awards, but also potential sponsors studying the brand.
Eunisell Boot
As its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project for the Nigerian top flight, Eunisell, a leading engineering and specialty solutions provider to the oil and gas industry conceived the Eunisell Boot, in 2018 to celebrate and reward the top scorer.
This initiative shares same ideals with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Initiative for the Nigerian Sports Economy (RHINSE) and is organised by another Nigerian company, MatchRoom
With a goal valued at N200,000, Eunisell is intentional about creating domestic stars in the league to make them appeal to Nigerians as contribution to National Development.
The 2025 edition, slated for Friday, June 13, was eventually postponed because the NPFL Chairman, Gbenga Elegbeleye, instructed the winner, Anas Yusuf, not to attend.
Apart from the Eunisell Boot, Eunisell is the biggest contributor to the growth of the NPFL as sponsor of clubs like Sharks (2015), Rivers United (22016-202) and Abia Warriors (2022 till date).
Let’s consider other independent awards in football.
None of these awards are “official” in the bureaucratic sense.
Yet all of them hold massive cultural and branding power. Why? Because they celebrate excellence. They tell compelling stories. They drive media cycles and engage fans.
Ballon d’Or (Global)
Not awarded by FIFA, yet widely considered the top individual accolade in global football.
While the Ballon d’Or is considered by many to be the more prestigious award due to its history, FIFA’s award carries the official backing of the global football governing body.
At the global level, Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball), is a product of France Football.
Organised since 1956, Ballon D’Or predates FIFA’s official awards.
The need for a merger led to the birth of FIFA Ballon d’Or in 2010 and by 2015, it was discontinued.
However, when current FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, was elected there was a change in nomenclature and both awards reverted to status quo.
Ballon D’Or and till date remains more popular than the FIFA Awards.
At no time has FIFA discredited Ballon d’Or because it understands that making football appeal to a global audience is much more than what one brand can achieve.
Ebony Shoe (Belgium)
Given to the best African player in the Belgian league by Africans in Belgium – not the league itself.
The Belgian League best player award, the Belgian Golden Shoe is also an independent award sponsored by Belgian Newspaper, Het Laatste Nieuws.
Nigerian striker, Tolu Arokadare, is the latest winner of the Ebony Shoe, an independent award in Belgium that celebrates African players and player s of African origin.
Conceived in 1992 by Africans in Belgium and African Culture Promotion, it is not an award of the Belgian Pro League and has never been discredited by the league organisers.
Previous Nigerian winners include Victor Ikpeba, Daniel Amokachi, Godwin and Paul Onuachu.
Footballer Writers Award, Professional Footballers Association (England)
The Premier League, football’s most glamorous brand has benefitted from several independent awards.
Interestingly, these awards are not openly sanctioned by the Premier League, but its brand managers have come to understand their impact on the product.
These awards boost conversations around the world which in turn impacts on the Premier League global brand profile.
Conceived during the 1947/48 season, the Football Writers Awards (FWA) has celebrated top stars as well as up-and-coming talents in the Premier League.
Like the FWA the, Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Awards remains a key stakeholder in the evolution of the English Leagues across the world.
It started during the 1973/74 season.
These awards are well celebrated by the Nigerian media.
Pichichi (Spain)
Named after a legendary striker and presented by a Spanish newspaper, Marca, —not La Liga—but the trophy is proudly displayed by La Liga stars and acknowledged across the world.
The Pichichi was conceived during the 1952/53 season and is the most popular individual award in Spanish football.
The Eunisell Boot: A Homegrown Boost for NPFL
2018 Eunisell Boot winner: Junior Lokosa
The Eunisell Boot is modeled after such global practices. It tracks and rewards top goal-scorers in the NPFL, with a financial bonus tied to performance.
That’s good for the players. Good for fans. And good for the league.
More importantly, it does what the NPFL hasn’t yet fully mastered: it brands individual excellence within the league in a way that resonates with the public and sponsors alike.
By publicly rejecting the Eunisell Boot, the NPFL is sending an unfortunate signal—one that says only awards from us are valid. That’s not only short-sighted, it’s self-defeating in an ecosystem where private partnerships are essential for growth.
Why the NPFL Should Embrace Independent Awards
Here’s what independent honors like the Eunisell Boot bring to the table:
- Visibility: Media coverage around award winners extends the league’s presence.
- Fan Engagement: Fans love to debate, predict, and celebrate award races.
- Player Motivation: Performance-based rewards push players to excel.
- Brand Partnerships: Awards like this attract corporate sponsors willing to invest in football storytelling.
- A Call to Rethink NPFL Growth Strategy
- The future of the NPFL lies not just in good governance, but in great branding. To attract fans, sponsors, and global attention, the league must be a platform—not a gatekeeper.
- Awards like the Eunisell Boot are low-cost, high-reward tools in that journey. They don’t need to be feared. They need to be nurtured.
About Ojeikere Aikhoje
Ojeikere Aikhoje is a cerebral journalist cum Integrated Marketing Communications practitioner.
Aikhoje manages MatchRoom Sports and Media Ltd, (matchroom.com.ng), a Sports Marketing/PR outfit that has made significant contributions to the national development through his involvement in the domestic football league since 1988.
He has secured sponsorships for teams like Sharks, Rivers United, Bayelsa United and Abia Warriors, in the NPFL.
Since 2009, he has founded awards to boost conversations around the domestic league in a bid to boost emotional connection and recruit brand believers in the League.
Aikhoje’s MatchRoom has organised the prestigious Eunisell Boot, backed with Personal Branding sessions for winners since 2018.
In 2018, he was a member of the Lagos Business School’s inaugural Sports Business Management Programme.
He led the MatchRoom team that presented the NPFL’s first ever Sponsorship and Brand report to GTI, Strategic Partners of the NPFL.
Part of the recommendations to GTI is for the Champions of the NPFL to visit President Tinubu with the trophy for photo ops and handshake to boost brand acceptance amongst Nigerians.
Aikhoje is a member of two prestigious clubs: Lagos Country Club and Ikoyi Club 1938.
He is a Licensed Football Coach and an Expert Analyst on the NPFL with SuperSport’s NaijaMade, a programme devoted to the NPFL since 2011.
In 2023, he established MatchRoom Football Business Institute, Nigeria’s first educational institution specializing in football business education. Players of Ikorodu City FC made history as the first to undergo the institute’s “Personal Branding For Footballers programme.”
Aikhoje is Publisher of www.sportbusinessbrand.com and Sport Business + Brand Magazine, two platforms that have boosted sports business in Nigeria with news, insights, stand-alone reports on trends in the industry as well as customized insights for individual clients.
