The Confederation of African Football (CAF) says the Africa Cup of Nations has experienced a 61% increase in global viewership, describing the tournament as one of the fastest-growing sporting events worldwide.
CAF revealed the figures in preliminary research findings published on its website on Monday ahead of the release of a comprehensive report on the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025.
The governing body noted that the detailed report will be issued in the coming weeks by Nielsen, an independent international research agency.
According to CAF, the rise in audience numbers was largely driven by expanded international broadcast coverage across Europe and other major 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 continental football body said.
The tournament, held from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026, took place in Morocco. Senegal emerged champions, while Morocco finished second and Nigeria secured third place.
CAF identified the United Kingdom and France as the main markets contributing the largest share of the tournament’s viewership growth.
The body also attributed part of the expansion to its commercial partnership with IMG, which helped boost the number of international broadcast partners by 50 per cent across Europe and other regions.
As part of the expanded reach, new media agreements were secured in markets including Japan, China, South Korea, Mexico, Greece and Colombia. CAF said this made the Morocco 2025 edition the most widely distributed AFCON tournament in history.
Viewership growth was also recorded in South America. CAF reported that more than 24 million people in Brazil watched the competition, while Mexico recorded nearly two million viewers.
The organisation said the data indicates that South America is becoming an emerging market where AFCON continues to attract new audiences.
CAF further explained that its global media distribution strategy, which included in-house content production and the distribution of highlights, contributed to more than a 65 per cent increase in media exposure for brand partners in European and South American markets.
The football body also outlined several performance indicators behind the tournament’s growth, including a “50% increase in international broadcast partners since the 2023 edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations held in Cote d’Ivoire.”
It also cited “a 32% uplift in media value for partners in the European market” and “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.”
Audience figures further highlighted strong interest across Europe and Asia. In the United Kingdom, more than three million viewers watched the final on Channel 4, while Germany recorded over four million viewers for the match on Sportdigital.
CAF added that India also emerged as a new audience market, with the final streamed on FanCode and attracting more than 800,000 viewers.
The body said additional broadcast deals were secured with platforms including DAZN in Japan; NAVER and STN in South Korea; Douyin, Leisu and Zhibo8 in China; as well as Fox Sports Mexico, Claro Sports, Movistar, Win Sports, ERT, VG, Cablenet and Medianet.
