BBNaija: Past sponsors count gains as Season 7 begins tomorrow

Since 2006, when the first season of Big Brother Nigeria was held, corporate sponsors have been scrambling for a piece of the show.

From headline sponsors such as Payporte; Nigeria’s eCommerce company, Bet9ja, Pocket by PiggyVest, formerly Abeg to other categories, the show, tagged BBNaija, the biggest reality TV show in the country, is a worthwhile investment.

Last year, the show cost N4 billion, which was half a billion more than it did for the previous season, according to Multichoice Nigeria, the organisers.

The huge cost of running the show goes into expenses such as diesel for generators, feeding the housemates, buying props for any games they will have, paying staff members that work behind the scenes, among others.

However, the sponsors are not bothered as they see it as a good investment, which over the years has proven very profitable and even seeing more on the queue for the sponsorship.

While Payporte kept smiling to the bank for the two seasons it sponsored the reality show, others have also gained sponsors across different categories.

In 2020, amid Covid-19 pandemic, Flutterwave sponsored BBNaija season 5. After sponsoring the show, the company reported an increase in monthly transactions from 107 million to 140 million. Yewande Akomolafe-Kalu, head of branding and storytelling, Flutterwave, noted that this also prompted their decision to support the show again this year. They and other sponsors believe that their partnerships with the reality show will be mutually beneficial.

When Abeg first sponsored BBNaija during its sixth edition in 2021, it reportedly grew its users from 20,000 to over 1.8 million, amid a 7000 percent increase due to the sponsorship. The huge return on investment was the rationale for the sponsorship of the Season 7 of the reality TV show this year, according to Joshua Chibueze, chief marketing officer, (Pocket) Piggyvest.