The Confédération Africaine de Football has appointed Media Experts Limited and Media Business Solutions (UK) Ltd as exclusive free-to-air broadcast rights holders for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations and other CAF events across sub-Saharan Africa.
The appointment was announced in London on October 19, following a tender CAF launched in August for free-to-air and pay-TV rights in the region. It completes the broadcast picture alongside a pay-TV agreement announced earlier this month.
The companies will build a network of national and regional broadcasters aiming to reach more than 500 million households in at least 40 countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Congo DR, Senegal, Angola and Ethiopia. Free-to-air coverage will be secured in host countries Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, with broadcast partners to be named in the coming months.
The deal also covers the Futsal Africa Cup of Nations 2026, the Africa Beach Soccer Cup of Nations 2026, and the 2027 Under-17 and Under-20 Africa Cups of Nations.
The 2027 tournament runs from June 19 to July 17, 2027. It will be the first AFCON co-hosted by three nations and the first staged in East Africa since Ethiopia hosted in 1976.
Growing Viewership
CAF President Patrice Motsepe said nearly two billion people watched the 2023 edition in Côte d'Ivoire. The 2025 edition in Morocco drew a record 3.6 billion viewers worldwide, and CAF's preliminary research shows a 61 per cent rise in viewership in Europe, Asia and South America.
Free-to-air television remains key for fans. In GeoPoll's Africa Football Survey 2026, 96 per cent of respondents in Nigeria and Kenya, and 91 per cent in Ghana, said they follow football. In Nigeria, 64 per cent said free-to-air TV was their leading way to watch live matches.
Media Experts Limited chief executive Kunle Falodun said, "Free-to-air television is where Africa watches its biggest moments together, and AFCON is the biggest football moment we have."
Media Business Solutions chief executive Richard Dimosi Diasolwa said the tournament would be "free, live and everywhere, from Nairobi to Lagos, from Kinshasa to Johannesburg".
The companies have invited broadcasters to discuss sublicensing and brands to discuss sponsorship and advertising.
