The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has tentatively fixed the weekend of **August 27 to 29** for the commencement of the 2026/27 season following a stakeholders’ meeting held in Abuja.
The proposed date was agreed upon during a meeting involving the National Sports Commission (NSC), the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), NPFL officials, and club owners as preparations intensify for the new domestic football campaign.
According to the approved football calendar, the season will conclude on **May 28, 2027**, with the schedule also making provision for fixtures in the President’s Federation Cup.
The move is aimed at ensuring a more structured and predictable football calendar across the country.
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The upcoming campaign is also expected to usher in a new financial era for the Nigerian top flight after NSC Chairman Shehu Dikko announced that the league winners will receive a record **₦1 billion** in prize money—the highest champions’ reward in the history of the NPFL.
The landmark prize is part of ongoing reforms designed to improve the league’s commercial value, enhance competition among clubs, and attract increased private sector investment into Nigerian football.
The 2026/27 season will feature four newly promoted clubs—**Sporting Lagos, Inter Lagos, Ranchers Bees, and Doma United**—who secured promotion from the Nigeria National League after the 2025/26 campaign. They replace the four relegated sides from last season.
Defending champions **Enugu Rangers** will begin the new season aiming to retain their crown after lifting a record-extending ninth NPFL title at the end of the 2025/26 campaign.