Mrs Opeoluwa Adeyemo-Anjorin is a suave sports marketing and activation specialist with decades of experience, having organised diverse sporting tournaments and activations in the country. In this interview, she discusses the challenges in Nigeria’s sports marketing industry, the activities of MediaVision Limited, and other sundry issues in the industry.
Kindly assess the sports marketing industry. Is the country effectively marketing its sports brands and talents in Nigeria?
It’s a mix, with Nigeria making strides in the right direction in Sports Marketing.
Firstly, there is a profound realisation that sports marketing is the only way to improve our sporting presence, establish and properly maintain mainstream sports facilities and discover and properly guide talents in various sports.
However, the actual “doing” is what has faced numerous obstacles. Mismanagement and poor handling of funds from the few brands that have invested in our sports mean that many big brands, which can afford to invest in sports, are reluctant to do so. There is a paucity of funds because the willing brands are few.
Moreover, there is a lopsided attachment to football in Nigeria. This means that other sports are lacking and lagging in terms of infrastructural and developmental programs.
A lot also has to be done in the area of governance. Sporting structures should be purely managed privately with little or no influence from government. However, since a large percentage of sports-related activities are still heavily dependent on government-assisted funding, that is not the case.
All of these directly affect our ability to discover, harness, and manage talents. A proper developmental process is necessary to nurture talents to their maximum potential; however, this is not the case. Many talents are left to fend for themselves, including those who have represented states and the country. This is the main reason for our inability to represent other countries effectively.
Nigeria has talented athletes and a passionate fan base, but the country’s sports marketing industry is still developing. To fully capitalise on the potential, Nigeria needs to: Invest in infrastructure, enhance marketing and branding, and improve governance and management.
What are the challenges confronting the sports marketing industry in the country?
This is the field we have been operating in for over 20 years now, and it is not easy, but at the same time, very doable.
There is a reluctance to private participation in sports. Many organisations prefer to lavish their funds on entertainment and similar activities.
There is also the issue of a lack of or poorly maintained infrastructure, and again 98% of them are public facilities. While some sports (Football and athletics) may have it better, several sports are entirely lacking in facilities and well-run structures. These affect the ability to market them correctly.
We have made progress in the past few years by using sports as a tool to reach out to discerning brands for development, especially at the grassroots level. However, a lot remains to be done.
Some of the key challenges include: limited funding, poor infrastructure, lack of effective governance, and inadequate marketing and promotion. Others include talent migration, corruption, a lack of data and research, and insufficient technology adoption.
How are the stakeholders tackling the challenges?
Show and tell –We have taken the responsibility of first showcasing these sporting platforms using home-grown funding, then we use this as a springboard to bring on board partners and collaborators.
First, we convince the private sector of the need to develop sports at all levels, but with more emphasis on grassroots. We have also been able to prove that sponsorship funding will be prudently and effectively managed to achieve maximum results.”
Secondly, we meet with public parastatals and agencies in charge of the different sports to establish a win-win collaboration. This allows them to give their cooperation and assistance, technical and otherwise.
Finally, to build a rich and all-inclusive ecosystem, the stakeholders’ niche is expanded to include parents and the general public. This helps drive followership, enthusiasm, participation, and influence. These are all ingredients needed for robust sports marketing.
The advent of social media has vastly improved our ability to show and tell, and we are constantly and innovatively adopting it to continue to expand our reach.
Lastly, the Sports Marketing field is large enough for many players to collaborate, and this is also part of the game plan to continue to overcome the challenges that sports marketing in Nigeria is experiencing.
Kindly tell us the brief history of MediaVision, including the values and philosophy that have distinguished the agency over the years.
MediaVision Limited is Nigeria’s Leading Sports Marketing and Activations Company. We pride ourselves on being at the forefront of using sports as a platform for sports and facility development, employee engagement, and brand visibility.
MediaVision Limited started in 2003 in publishing. We published Nigeria’s No. 1 Football Weekly, called The Game, until 2008. We have also produced, managed, and marketed a Sports Show on the NTA Network since 2005.
Since then, we have evolved into the Leading Sports Marketing & Activations Company in Nigeria with business concerns that span Corporate Nigeria. A plethora of sector games that serve as an employee engagement platform for staff of corporate organisations to compete in friendly sports. It helps them keep fit, live healthily, and build a work-life balance. Nigeria Bankers Games, Nigeria Telecoms Games, Nigeria Insurance Games, Nigeria FMCG Games, Nigeria Fintech Games, and Corporate Champions Cup are some of them.
We provide end-to-end consultancy for blue-chip firms that need customised sporting platforms to achieve various company/brand objectives. We conceptualise, project manage, and execute these projects on behalf of these clients. We also provide advisory services on a needs basis. Some of these include GTBank Principals and Masters Cup, PwC Chess4Change, Fidelity Bank NYSC Games, and NUGA Games Unical 2026.
We have also activated various other sporting programs in our effort to develop them in Nigeria and help set the proper trend for its mainstay. Some include: Mxtreme Games, CyberGames, Scrabble for Secondary School, etc.
One of our core competencies is using sports as a viable alternative employee engagement tool to breed employee self-worth, brand loyalty, improved productivity, and overall well-being of employees. We do this using Internal Games activation. Our clients include organisations like Credit Direct, Friesland Campina, among others.
Our philosophy and values are cojoined. We operate with the mindset that Sports in Nigeria can and should be self-sustaining. To achieve this, we recognise the crucial role partnerships play in ensuring sustainability.
Therefore, integrity, collaboration, and teamwork have been our guiding principles over the years. This has helped us build goodwill, ensuring brands continue to trust us, and we remain at the forefront of developing a self-sustaining sports industry.
Please also tell us some of the sports marketing sponsorships/partnerships your agency has been able to broker.
There have been several notable sponsorships, including GTBank’s support of the Principals Cup in Lagos and Ogun States for over 10 years, GTBank’s sponsorship of the Masters Cup (initially Heritage Cup) for First Generation Secondary Schools in Lagos State, and Fidelity Bank’s sponsorship of the annual NYSC Games in 2012.
Others include PwC’s sponsorship of Chess4Change in select Lagos secondary schools for 10 years, and Remita’s sponsorship of the Corporate Champions Cup. NUGA GAMES – We are in the process of securing sponsorships for the upcoming NUGA Games at the University of Calabar, Unical 2026.
What is the competitive edge of your agency over other competitors in the industry?
We have been in the sports business for more than two decades. Our competitive edge includes our extensive experience across various sporting brands, our vast experience working across the corporate and public sectors, and our team of seasoned sports marketers who have also remained at MVL for more than a decade.
Our integrity in delivering exceptional sporting activations over the years, the goodwill and partnerships we have developed in both public and private spaces, and our deep love for sports development in Nigeria. All these factors set us apart in the sports marketing industry.
How is your agency leveraging digital to remain relevant in a fast-evolving sport marketing industry?
As you are aware, this is at the heart of everything now, and we are not left behind.
We are fully engaged on all social media platforms for promotions, Livestreaming, advertising, and various forms of engagement with our indigenous stakeholders and the larger sports-loving public.
We also understand the dynamics of the digital space and have a team that ensures that we remain relevant.
What should we be expecting from MediaVision in the remaining months of the year, now that we have entered the second quarter?
Our annual Corporate Games fixtures will kick off in earnest in August. We will debut an addition to our Corporate Games portfolio – The Nigeria Fintech Games.
Another Corporate Games event will also make a comeback after a few years’ absence – The Nigeria Insurance Games. Our biggest annual sporting event, the Nigeria Bankers Games, will also take place.
There are two more projects that we hope to execute in the last half of the year: the Scrabble Competition in secondary schools and the Powerman Series – a strong man event that will take the nation by storm.
What is your projection for MediaVision in the next five years?
To be a global brand in the Sports Marketing and Activation Industry and help bring diverse international sporting tournaments to Nigeria. We also hope to become one of the biggest talent management agencies across various sporting fields.
What is your advice to the young people who want to start a career in sports marketing?
My advice is for them to get involved now to be wholly informed about Sports Marketing.
This means developing a passion for sports and understanding how they are run. It would also be helpful to seek out mentors from whom they can learn and, if possible, volunteer their time for sports activities they enjoy.
This will go a long way in helping them settle in nicely when the time comes. They will also understand the nuances and follow through with the perseverance that is required.