The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced a significant partnership with SuperSport, the African pay-TV giant, for the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). This deal is set to be a cornerstone in CAF's rights portfolio for the imminent soccer tournament.
SuperSport, owned by MultiChoice, will hold both English and local-language rights across sub-Saharan Africa for this year's AFCON. The tournament is scheduled to take place in Morocco from December 21 to January 18.
This partnership marks a new era in broadcasting rights as it comes as one of the main building blocks of CAF's broadcast rights portfolio. Until now, coverage tie-ups for AFCON had not been forthcoming.
Rebranding and enhanced coverage
As part of this agreement, SuperSport will rebrand one of its channels specifically for AFCON. The channel will feature live match coverage complemented by expert analysis from top African football legends and multilingual commentary.
SuperSport also covered the entirety of the last men's AFCON held early in 2024 in Ivory Coast after MultiChoice made a late U-turn over acquiring rights to that tournament. MultiChoice is now under new ownership after French-based media giant Canal+ acquired it through a $1.9 billion deal completed last September.
David Mignot, chief executive at Canal+ Africa, said:
"Our newly formed merger with the MultiChoice Group has already unlocked opportunities and benefits for our customers. The Africa Cup of Nations is a great demonstration of this ambition – bringing together our expertise to offer unprecedented coverage and bring fans closer to the game.”
In addition to SuperSport’s coverage, New World TV broadcaster has already secured an agreement unveiled late last year to cover this year’s AFCON across sub-Saharan Africa.
Upcoming tender process
CAF recently launched a tender process for media rights covering its intercontinental competitions both within sub-Saharan Africa and other international markets next season. These include top-tier competitions such as CAF Champions League and Women’s Champions League matches along with secondary tournaments like CAF Confederation Cup and the 2026 CAF Super Cup.
Interested parties have until November 10, at 12:00 p.m. Egyptian Standard Time to submit their offers. They can contact mediasales@cafonline.com for further details.
Last month, SuperSport also secured a deal with French soccer's top-tier Ligue 1. As per the agreement, SuperSport will broadcast three live Ligue 1 games each week across English-speaking Africa. This series of deals signifies a significant step forward in African football broadcasting and promises an exciting future for sports fans and sports betting enthusiasts alike.
