Baseball is a multi-billion dollars sport — Odozor

… wants Nigeria to harness its potential

President of the Nigeria Baseball and Softball Association (NBSA), Uche Odozor, has described baseball as a multi-billion-dollar sport that Nigeria, with over 200 million people, can leverage, as is done in other parts of the world, to promote its economy.

Odozor made the statement at an event to mark the 2025 World Baseball and Softball Day, themed “We are not just participating, we are winning,” which was held on Saturday at the Baseball-Softball Arena, Ball Park Field, package B of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

According to a report by Fact.MR, a Dublin, Ireland-based market research firm, baseball is one of the top-grossing revenue sports in the world. The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) estimates the total baseball and softball market to gross US$ 15-20 billion annually.

According to the NBSA boss, baseball is not just an Olympic sport but has commanded the largest signing fees in the sports world, in the region of $754 million for an individual and $46 million at the entry level just to hit the ball. He said the association is keen to change the narrative and make baseball a force to reckon with and become the number one sport in Nigeria.

Odozor said the Association would continue to improve on infrastructure while thanking the National Sports Commission for its support, as he solicited continuous support from the government and the private sector, saying it is important that children learn, know, and understand the game for early exposure.

He said, “Baseball is one of the greatest sporting events done all over the world. And you cannot go wrong building that capacity out of Nigeria, and that is exactly what we’re doing. Baseball is an Olympic sport. Baseball commands the largest sign-on fee for an athlete in the world, a record $754 million for just an individual to play baseball, and at the entry level, $46 million just to hit the ball and run the basics for any club that you could find around the world. Baseball cannot be trivialised in Nigeria. It’s a multi-billion-dollar worth of industry globally. And Nigeria, with a population of 200 million people, must know the thing that is catchy about the sport.

“Baseball is all about starting very early and catching them young. It is not just about playing the game; it is about moulding the values out of the children and the right time to do that is actually to get them young because baseball is built around a STEM approach, which is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. With the aerodynamics that is involved, which is mathematics, calculations and the intrigues all around the sport, it’s important that they start early. And when they start early, it builds not just the values of these children but also their aerodynamics, aerodynamics and a whole lot of that.

He added, “We are trying to change the narrative, and how can we make baseball the number one in Nigeria? That is exactly where our focus is. And that is why we are going back to the basics, and we are happy with the progress we’ve made so far. So, starting very young is very important, and that is why we’re focusing on the schools. We are taking baseball back to where it belongs, which are the schools, the children, and the family.

“Because if you have families that are involved, it hastens the process. That is why we want to start there. We’ve children across the FCT, we also have children who came all the way from Kaduna to join us. We remain very grateful to the Governor of Kaduna State and the Commissioner of Sports for their incredible support.”

The permanent secretaries, Ministries of Federal Capital Territory, Youths and Sports Development Secretariat and Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Mrs Sabatin Nathan and Dr Onwusoro Maduka, respectively commended the NBSA for providing an enabling environment for youth participation, describing baseball as a sport that has come to stay in Nigeria through the awareness at the grassroots.

Sporting Tribune reports that at least 10 schools from Abuja and Kaduna participated in the event and the children were taught the basics of baseball and softball.