European Football Club Newspapers in Nigeria: Gratifications or Media Imperialism

Abstract

This study is aimed at exploring the contents, uses and gratifications of football club newspapers as an emerging phenomenon. The work is anchored on the Uses and Gratifications theory and the media imperialism theory. Analysis of the contents of nine titles shows that the birth of these newspapers is evidence of an increasing number of Nigerian football fans shifting their support to foreign football clubs. The new media owners are simply responding to the forces of demand and supply with the central objective of meeting an unmet local need for good, professionally organised football. The implication is that even in Nigeria; news of foreign leagues is published by Nigerian citizens to draw readers away from local league, a development which is bound to affect negatively the nations sporting culture. The conclusion is that the fans will continue to patronise these newspapers so long as their needs for good football is not satisfied by any of the existing local newspapers, the obvious cultural implications notwithstanding.

Keywords: Newspaper, football, gratifications, imperialism