Rangers International won the 2025/26 NPFL title on the final day with a 2-1 victory over Ikorodu City FC at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos, while Rivers United beat Katsina United 3-0 in Port Harcourt and finished just one point behind the champions.

The result gave Rangers their ninth league crown and ended a title race that went all the way to the last round, with the two front-runners separated by just one point before kickoff. Ikorodu City, meanwhile, stayed in the conversation deep into the season and also pushed for continental qualification, underlining how close the contest became.

Shortly after the title presentation in Lagos, Bukola Olopade said the league has come far enough in structure and competitiveness to attract major commercial backing. He praised Gbenga Elegbeleye, the league chairman, for the work done over the past three seasons and said the atmosphere around the final day showed how much the competition has improved.

“I want to first of all congratulate Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, the Chairman of the League. It’s an amazing job they have done this season, just like they did last season and two years ago when we had the Super Eight here,” Olopade said. “There has been tremendous improvement. We keep moving from strength to strength, and today’s atmosphere was amazing. It’s something that we all as Nigerians must be proud of. Congratulations to Rangers, Ikorodu City, and Rivers United, amazing football today.”

He said the league should now be targeting multiple mega sponsorships rather than relying on modest deals. “In terms of structure, planning, and timing, we have moved on. What we need to work on now, and I am saying this in front of the chairman, is to attract multiple mega sponsorships for the league,” Olopade said. “This league is ripe for multibillion-naira sponsorship, and that’s what we need to start working towards collectively.”

His comments came against the backdrop of a league that has spent years trying to shake off doubts from sponsors. Longstanding concerns over inconsistent officiating, poor playing surfaces, crowd violence, security problems, irregular scheduling, weak television production and governance instability have made headline backing hard to secure. Recent reforms under Elegbeleye’s administration, however, have improved confidence, with better fixture coordination, stricter club licensing, tighter officiating oversight and stronger matchday organisation helping to change the tone around the NPFL.

That shift matters now because the league has reached a point where the football itself is producing a title race tight enough to hold attention until the final whistle, while the administrators are trying to turn that credibility into money. The challenge is whether the progress on the pitch and in the league office can finally persuade major sponsors that the NPFL is no longer a risky bet, but a product ready for the scale Olopade described.