Viaplay, a Sweden-based media and entertainment company, has successfully secured the rights to broadcast the upcoming 2023 Africa Cup of Nations national teams tournament. This marks a significant shift in broadcasting dynamics as SuperSport will not be airing the tournament for the first time since 1992.
Christian Ramberg, Viaplay’s program manager for sport, announced on X (formerly Twitter) that all matches during the tournament would be shown on Viaplay and its sports channels. The tournament is scheduled to run from January 13 to February 14. However, it remains unclear which regions will have access to this broadcast.
The upcoming edition of AFCON was initially set for 2023 but had been postponed by a year due to extreme weather conditions in Ivory Coast. The subsequent edition in 2025 will take place in Morocco aligning with other national team tournaments' schedules.
IMG, an international sports and entertainment giant brokered this deal with Viaplay. IMG recently secured an exclusive contract to distribute international media rights for events organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) across more than 85 countries excluding Middle East and North Africa region and sub-Saharan Africa.
For the first time since 1992, SuperSport will not broadcast the tournament
Viaplay previously held rights to show the AFCON's previous edition held in Cameroon as part of a deal that included broadcasting other major African football events like Women’s Cup of Nations and CAF Champions League club competition.
In contrast, Multichoice's SuperSport pay-TV service failed to secure broadcasting rights ahead of this flagship national team tournament. This is a significant setback for the media giant, which has broadcast every AFCON edition since 1992.
Despite this loss, Multichoice stated that the games would be available through partner broadcast stations on free-to-air channels. The broadcaster also reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring football fans across Africa continue to enjoy unrivaled access to entertainment and football games.
In related news, Togo-based network New World TV secured an exclusive three-year deal with CAF to air all of its competitions, including AFCON, across 46 African countries until 2025. SuperSport needed a sublicense from New World TV to broadcast the tournament in regions covered by this agreement.
Additionally, Ziggo Sport (Dutch pay-TV network) and German pay-TV channel Sportdigital have also secured rights to air the upcoming tournament in their respective countries.
This shift in broadcasting rights signifies changing dynamics within sports media and will undoubtedly impact how sports fans engage with these major tournaments moving forward.
