The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced that the Africa Cup of Nations recorded a 61 per cent rise in global viewership, placing the competition among the fastest-growing sporting events worldwide.
CAF revealed this in preliminary research data published on its website on Monday, ahead of the release of the full report on the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025.
The comprehensive report is expected to be released in the coming weeks by independent global research firm Nielsen.
According to CAF, the increase in viewership was largely driven by record levels of international coverage secured across major media platforms in Europe and other important markets.
“Preliminary research numbers released by independent research agencies have shown a 61% growth in viewership for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025, making AFCON one of the biggest growing sporting properties globally,” the continent’s governing body said.
AFCON 2025, which took place from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026, was hosted by Morocco. Senegal finished in first place, Morocco came second, while Nigeria secured third position.
The United Kingdom and France were identified as the top regions contributing the highest share of the tournament’s viewership growth.
CAF further noted that its commercial collaboration with global sports marketing agency IMG helped deliver a 50 per cent rise in the number of international broadcast partners across Europe and other key markets.
The expanded broadcast coverage included new media agreements in countries such as Japan, China, South Korea, Mexico, Greece and Colombia, making the Morocco 2025 edition the most widely distributed AFCON tournament globally so far.
CAF stated that audience numbers also grew considerably in South America, where more than 24 million viewers in Brazil followed the tournament, while nearly two million people in Mexico watched the competition.
The organisation explained that these figures indicate that South America is becoming a new market where AFCON is attracting fresh audiences.
CAF also stated that its global media distribution approach — including the production of in-house shoulder content and the distribution of highlights — led to more than a 65 per cent increase in media exposure for brand partners in European and South American markets.
The football body identified several major factors responsible for the tournament’s growth.
These include “50% increase in international broadcast partners since the 2023 edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations held in Cote d’Ivoire
“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 for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025.”
Viewership data also showed significant growth across Europe and Asia.
In the United Kingdom, more than three million viewers watched the final on Channel 4, while Germany recorded a record audience of over four million viewers for the final on Sports Digital.
CAF also revealed that India has emerged as a new audience market for the tournament, with the final streamed on FanCode and attracting more than 800,000 viewers.
The organisation added that new broadcast deals were also secured with several 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.
