The company, which began its association with the League in 1995, is on the verge of signing a three-year extension that will take it to the end of the 2006-07 season. The existing deal expires at the end of the current season.
Sources close to Nationwide said the renewed deal will be valued almost identically to the existing agreement, a scenario that will please embattled clubs, which feared their income from the sponsorship would fall.
Barclays' recently announced £57m deal to sponsor the Premier League from next season is one of the few sponsorships to have shown an increase in value during the advertising downturn.
The Football League is still recovering from the aftermath of last year's ITV Digital debacle, which saw the platform's owners, Carlton and Granada, backtrack on a £315m broadcast rights deal. Several clubs were forced into administration by the crisis.
Nationwide's extension will see it overtake Carling as the longest-running title sponsor of a major English football competition. The Coors Brewing brand was the title backer of the Premier League between 1992 and 2001.
Nationwide and the Football League declined to comment as Marketing went to press.
The building society is also one of the Football Association's five key sponsors, and pays about £3m a year for the right to associate itself with the England team, FA Cup and women's football.
The League has decided to overhaul its leadership structure, which will see a three-strong management team report to chairman Sir Brian Mawhinney.
The management team will consist of a yet-to-be-appointed managing director for the First Division, commercial director Richard Masters and operations director Andy Williamson.
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