African and Arab Football

AFCON Morocco 2025 viewership rises 61 percent across global markets

Monday 16 March 2026 - 12:00

By: Dakir Madiha

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Early audience research shows a sharp surge in global interest for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025, with viewership across Europe, Asia, and South America increasing by 61 percent compared with previous editions.

Preliminary figures released by independent research agencies indicate that the tournament has become one of the fastest growing international sporting events. A full report on the competition’s global performance is expected to be published in the coming weeks by the research firm Nielsen.

The expansion in audiences was largely driven by record broadcast coverage across major media platforms in Europe and other international markets. The United Kingdom and France were identified as the two territories contributing the largest share of new viewers.

The Confederation of African Football credited its commercial partnership with global sports marketing agency IMG for expanding the tournament’s distribution. The collaboration resulted in a 50 percent increase in international broadcast partners compared with the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations held in Côte d’Ivoire.

For the first time, broadcasting agreements were secured in several new markets, including Japan, China, South Korea, Mexico, Greece, and Colombia. These deals helped make the Morocco 2025 tournament the most widely distributed edition of the Africa Cup of Nations to date.

South America emerged as another region of strong growth. Brazil generated particularly large audiences, with more than 24 million viewers watching matches during the tournament. Mexico also contributed nearly two million viewers, signaling expanding interest in African football across the continent.

CAF said its global media distribution strategy, which included producing supplementary digital content and distributing highlights directly, helped drive a 65 percent increase in exposure for commercial partners in Europe and South America.

Other key indicators point to the tournament’s growing international footprint. The number of international broadcast partners rose by half compared with the 2023 edition. Media value for partners in Europe increased by 32 percent, while total media rights revenue across Europe, South America, and Asian markets climbed by 35 percent.

Individual markets also recorded significant milestones. The tournament final attracted more than three million viewers in the United Kingdom on Channel 4. Germany registered its highest AFCON audience ever, with total tournament reach surpassing four million viewers.

India also emerged as a new audience market. Matches streamed on the FanCode platform drew more than 800,000 viewers, marking the first substantial following for the competition in the country.

Additional broadcasting agreements were signed with platforms including DAZN in Japan, NAVER and STN in South Korea, Douyin, Leisu, and Zhibo8 in China, Fox and Claro Sports in Mexico, Movistar in Spain, Win Sports in Colombia, ERT in Greece, VG in Norway, Cablenet in Cyprus, and Medianet in the Maldives.

The Confederation of African Football said the expanding international distribution reflects the growing global appeal of the Africa Cup of Nations and its increasing presence across major sports media markets.