Preliminary research numbers released by independent research agencies have shown a 61% growth in viewership for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025, making it one of the biggest growing sporting properties globally.
Record-breaking global coverage secured across leading media platforms in Europe and other key markets was behind this unprecedented growth. The UK and France are the leading territories that contributed the lion’s share of the growth for the tournament. There was a sharp rise in the UK audience for the final alone, with over three million people watching on Channel 4. In addition, Germany recorded an all-time high audience, reaching over 4 million viewers during the tournament via Sports Digital.
CAF’s commercial partnership with global sports marketing agency IMG resulted in a 50% increase in the number of broadcast partners in Europe and other key markets. This included first-time deals in Japan, China, South Korea, Mexico, Greece and Colombia, making the AFCON Morocco 2025 the most widely distributed edition of the tournament globally to date.
In South America, audiences in Brazil continued to surge – resulting in over 24 million people watching the AFCON, while Mexico accounted for almost 2 million viewers. The latest figures make South America another territory where CAF is also building new audiences. India also emerged as a new market for the competition, with the final streamed on FanCode and attracting more than 800,000 football fans, marking a strong first-time audience for AFCON in the country.
Additionally, CAF’s global media distribution strategy, which included in-house shoulder content production and highlights distribution, resulted in over 65% rise in media exposure of brand partners in the European and South American territories alone.
Other key numbers include a 32% uplift in media value for partners in the European market; a 35% increase in overall media rights revenue across South America, Europe and Asian markets; and new broadcast deals in Japan (DAZN), South Korea (NAVER, STN), China (Douyin, Leisu, Zhibo8), Mexico (Fox, Claro Sports), Spain (Movistar), Colombia (Win Sports), Greece (ERT),Norway (VG), Cyprus (Cablenet), and the Maldives (Medianet).
The full report of the CAF AFCON Morocco 2025 will be released by independent global research agency Nielsen in the coming weeks.
