Sports globally was, and has continued to be an avenue for entertainment and leisure, with spectators taking advantage of sporting events for relaxation.However, in the turn of the last century, sports has gone far beyond mere entertainment to become a huge economic platform, providing key actors opportunities to earn a living.According to AI search, global sports industry is a multi-trillion dollar business, with estimates ranging from $500 billion to $1.4 trillion. This significant value, it noted, is driven by various factors like media rights, sponsorship deals, ticket sales, and the burgeoning digital and interactive fan experiences. The industry is experiencing rapid growth, particularly in emerging markets, and is diversifying in terms of competitions, audiences, and economies.However, while the rest of the world has keyed into the burgeoning sports industry with emphasis on earning revenues, a couple of countries, particularly in the sub-saharan Africa, are still lagging behind. Nigeria, for instance, has failed to leverage the emerging business aspect of sports for the benefit of the country.From player transfers, branding, growth in the sports market, emerging sport and allied areas, countries have continued to reap bountifully from sports business, with Nigeria abysmally failing to even sustain the entertainment aspect of sports.Meanwhile, the revolutionalised FIFA Club World.Cup which is due to start today in the United States brings to the fore the failure of Nigerian sports authorities, over the years, to leverage the growing economic opportunities in the sports sector to impact the nation’s economy. The rebranded Club World Cup, thrown up by FIFA to not only benefit the participating clubs, and by extension, impact their economies, but to dent the dreams of clubs angling for Super League in Eurrope, is a money spinner for teams and an opportunity for exposure for relatively smaller clubs, albeit with emphasis on earning bountifully to further develop themselves.From Africa, the quartet of Al Ahly of Egypt, Wydad Casablanca of Morocco, Esperance de Tunis of Tunisia, and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa are holding forth the continent’s flag with attendant economic benefits.A breakdown of monetary gains from the competition merely exposed the huge loss the supposedly giants of Africa would incure for not acquainting their sports sector well to produce a team capable of being among the pacesetters at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup starting today in the United States.The total prize money in the competition is $1bn, with the champions earning up to $125m. About half of the $1bn will be divided between the 32 clubs, with the amount going to each club based on sporting and commercial criteria.The breakdown shows that teams earn $2m for a win and $1m for a draw in the group stage, $7.5m for making the round of 16, $13.1m for making a quarterfinal, $21m for making a semifinal, $30m for making the final, and another $40m for winning the gong.Oceania’s representative gets $3.58m just for showing up. African, Asian, and North American clubs get $9.55m. South American sides get $15.21m, while European teams will get anywhere from $12.81m to $38.19m, depending on what FIFA calls “sporting and commercial criteria” (in other words: how famous and good they are).The prize money mentioned above is awarded to the teams, not the players. Different teams will distribute the winnings to players differently according to a number of factors.According to analysts, such appearance fee money is enough to boost the finances of clubs and coming to a less developed league like those in Africa, this will be a massive boost. In the Nigerian domestic league, for example, the mandatory take-home fee of a whooping $9.55 million would have so much economic advantages, not mentioning value chain benefits. Unfortunately, the Nigeria sports sector has continued to underwhelm with administrators failing to think out of the box to throw reforms and renaissance that could lift the country.In football where the ongoing Club World Cup falls, a country of more than two hundred million people has continually failed to provide a domestic league that could produce African champion. The league has failed to provide a platform for players to earn a living, warranting players who could ordinary have stayed to help clubs challenge effectively in the continent migrating to wherever their financial interests could be served better.Today the Nigerian sports sector is estimated to be worth a significant amount of over $3 billion if it is boosted with effective management devoid of corruption, nepotism and lies, which have been the Achilles heels of the sector. The amount so projected is a mere projection as Nigerian sports projections are far below the estimated figure.Contrastingly and according to Statista.com, a market-based website, revenue in the south African sports market is projected to reach US$269.03m before the end of 2025.The revenue, the website continued, is expected to show an annual growth rate of 2.06%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$291.94m by 2029.In football, the average monthly salary for a player in the South African Premier Soccer League (PSL), according to Hollywoodbets Sports Blog, is approximately N3.5 million (R40,000), which is promptly paid without hesitation. The players in the PSL enjoy huge insurance cover in cases of emergencies and they are protected by huge investment in the league; no wonder players in the league are less motivated to jump ship.Meanwhile, such growth in the evolution of sports in the hitherto apartheid country, which gained sports recognition years after Nigeria had, is driven by several factors, including the rising popularity of sports like soccer and cricket where South Africa has continued to explore opportunities and invest to deepen the sector.There is also an increase in investments in infrastructure like stadiums, security and other allied area, as well as rising disposable income.Other factors which are absent in Nigeria include technological advancements, particularly in training and media, more government and private sector support for sports development, including in underprivileged areas, and all these have contributed to the growth and inclusivity of sports in the former apartheid enclave.Today, Nigeria cannot readily be called upon to bail out either FIFA or CAF in hosting events but South Africa can effectively do that and has still remained the first and only African country to have hosted the World Cup, a testament to their vigorous sports development policy anchored on sustained infrastructural upgrade. Presently, South Africa has the capacity to host the Olympic Games, but where does the giant of Africa fall in reaping from huge and untapped investments in sports?Today, the transfer market for players is buzzing with no serious mention made of Nigerian players, thus underlining the continued decline in football in particular and sports general in the country.Speaking on the development, a former coach of Enyimba International who begged to remain anonymous said the challenge is multifaceted, however saying the right people are hardly employed to manage sports, blaming the rot mainly on this.“There are so many problems in the sports sector in Nigeria,” he said.“But I can tell you that if the right people with passion are appointed to manage sports, such problems would be tackled.“Nigerian politicians think less of sports and use the sector to settle those who cannot get other supposed juicy appointments, forgetting that when managed fine, sports itself is juicy.“In Europe, appointments into the sports sector, just like other sectors, are influenced by records of achievements and the one appointing may, in most cases, do not even know the appointees, but here, positions are shared even before inaugurations,” lamented.Speaking during an event organised by a nationals daily, Seun Fakorede, former Commissioner for Youth and Sports in Oyo State, said the government should have no business doing sports business.Fakorede emphasised that the fundamental problem facing sports business growth in Nigeria is that there is no intentional action given to developing sports by governments.He called for public-private participation (PPP) to enable the country to create the enabling environment to drive growth.Fakorede said for grassroots sports to develop, the country must embrace true representation, which must be done intentionally.Mozez Praiz, television host/sportscaster at Supersport, speaking about how Nigerian clubs can maximise the business aspect of sports, said the problem is that most clubs and other sports administrators do not understand the business of sports.“Club chairmanship is given as a political compensation as against professionalism and that goes to other sports. Most of the club administrators don’t have blueprints on how to grow the clubs,” he said.Praiz explained that to grow a club, the ideal thing is to start with building the fan base, noting that to achieve this, there is a need to give the fans a sense of ownership.“Until we fix the disconnect between the club managers and the fans, we will continue to struggle. Club managers should take seriously how they brand their persons,” he said.He pointed out corruption as a cancer eating away the business growth of many clubs.