2026/27 Nigeria Premier Football League opened with immediate competitive and financial upgrades.
Shooting Stars defeated Inter Lagos 2-1 in an early fixture and later secured a slim first-leg CAF Confederation Cup win over Tunisian side CS Sfaxien.
Doma United sat atop the early table with maximum points from two matches.
The National Sports Commission and Nigeria Football Federation jointly announced that league champions will receive ₦1 billion, runners-up ₦800 million and third place ₦700 million—the highest prize structure in NPFL history—while a minimum monthly salary of ₦2 million for players takes effect to curb talent drain.
New Chief Operating Officer appointments and stricter club-licensing rules accompanied the package.
Weekend fixtures on 6 September included Enyimba versus Shooting Stars, Kano Pillars versus Niger Tornadoes and several other matches.
These reforms aim to raise domestic standards, improve player welfare and make the league more attractive to sponsors and young talents who previously sought immediate overseas moves.
With the new prize structure and minimum salary now adding a stronger financial incentive, the 2026/27 campaign could become an important test of whether the league can retain more Nigerian talent while improving its competitive standards. Early results and the prize-money announcement have already increased public and media attention on the domestic game.
