Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and HotSports Media Group have announced a partnership with comedian, Ali Baba, and others to entertain viewers during the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
AFCON 2019 will hold in Egypt from June 21 to July 19.
Analysis of the matches on the terrestrial channels of NTA will be laced with humour with comedy Ali Baba leading other comedians to give the fans memorable treats.
Ali Baba recently visited the headquarters of HotSports Media Group in Lagos where the group’s president and chief executive officer, Taye Ige announced the marriage of football and comedy.
“We want to achieve a significant milestone in football broadcasting by bringing sports and entertainment together in the terrestrial live studios of AFCON 2019. We want to produce a memorable event that will remain in the minds of football-loving Nigerians for many years to come,” Mr Ige assured.
Ali Baba said that he is glad to be part of the AFCON 2019 live studios innovation, as he strongly believes that the combination of sports and comedy has the strong potential to attract Nigerian fans to their first love.
He explained the rationale for the unique offering: “There is going to be a synchronisation of comedy and sports to achieve entertainment and push the envelope of pleasure for viewers. Across the world, there is a convergence of entertainment. There is hardly a sporting event that doesn’t open with fanfare. You have a big star entertaining. Football has also taken on that dynamics.
“If you listen to commentators, the humour with which they explain the activities on the field makes you want to listen to every word or watch every second of the game. When you’re watching a game, if the volume is down you don’t enjoy it. If you’re English-speaking and the commentary is in French, for instance, you’ll like to know how the commentator describes that action. Listen to the old tapes of Ernest Okonkwo; you’ll hear him describe certain actions on the field as ‘ballistic missiles’ etc. He also nicknamed some players like Mathematical, Blockbuster, Chief Justice and so on. Many fans still remember these humour elements years after they have forgotten the matches themselves.”
The Super Eagles of Nigeria will feature at Egypt 2019 in Group B.
They will open their campaign to win the title for the fourth time on June 22 against Burundi. Other teams in the group are Guinea and Madagascar.
Founded in 1996, HotSports is the official media partner as well as marketing consultants to the Nigeria Football Federation and has become reputable as a go-getting company committed to adding value to clients’ sponsorship investments.
It has provided activations for leading brands around major continental and global sports events.
