AFCON 2025 records highest revenues in history – CAF

The Confederation of African Football has said that the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 has become the most successful commercial venture in the history of African football, recording more than a 90 per cent increase in revenues.

In a statement obtained from its website on Thursday, CAF said the achievement was driven by expanded sponsorship deals, broader media rights distribution and entry into new markets, particularly in Asia.

The body stated, “The TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 is now undoubtedly the most successful commercial story in the history of African football as the commercial success of the competition has led to over 90% increase in the CAF revenues for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025.”

The continental body attributed the surge to expanded partnerships, wider media rights distribution and penetration into new territories.

It explained that the growth was “driven by a significant increase in the commercial partners of CAF, increase in media rights distribution and also CAF venturing into new markets most notably the Far East, China, Japan while also consolidating traditional markets.”

Providing details of the sponsorship trajectory, CAF noted, “The number of commercial partners increased from nine during the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cameroon 2021 to 17 during the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Côte d’Ivoire 2023.”

It added that, “For the 2025 edition in Morocco, CAF has continued to attract more partners and now has 23 sponsors.”

CAF also stressed that the expansion reflected “both the attraction of new global brands and the retention of existing partners, for whom the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON has been an excellent return on investment.”

The football governing body said the commercial boom followed a deliberate data-driven strategy implemented after the 2023 finals in Côte d’Ivoire.

According to the statement, “The TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations has recorded unprecedented commercial growth between 2021 and 2025, driven by a deliberate, data-led strategy that has repositioned the competition as a truly global football property.”

CAF said audience research conducted after the last edition revealed untapped interest across several regions, adding that the findings “provided a clear roadmap for future commercial engagement.”

It stated that the insights informed the current cycle with “targeted focus placed on regions demonstrating high engagement levels, including China, Japan, Brazil and key European markets.”

On its widening global footprint, CAF disclosed that its sponsor base now covered multiple continents, with partners from the United States, China, Germany, Japan, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, the United Kingdom and Turkey, while the European Union had also joined as a sponsor.

The body listed long-standing collaborators such as TotalEnergies, Orange, Lonaci, 1xBet, Visa, Tecno and Puma as continuing their association, with AGL, Danone and Unilever renewing their commitments.

Source: Punch