The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced that the African Cup of Nations (CAN 2025), hosted by Morocco, became the most commercially successful edition in the history of the continent, generating an increase of more than 90% in CAF revenue.
According to CAF, this performance is explained by a clear increase in commercial partnerships, an expanded distribution of broadcasting rights and the entry of the confederation into new markets, notably in the Far East, including China and Japan, while consolidating its usual audiences.
The number of sponsors continued to grow, going from nine partners during CAN Cameroon 2021, to 17 in Ivory Coast 2023, to reach 23 sponsors for the Morocco 2025 edition.
CAF attributes this rise to a data-driven business strategy launched after AFCON 2023, following an in-depth analysis of public demand which revealed strong, previously under-tapped interest in markets such as China, Japan, Brazil and some key European countries.
CAF’s sponsor base now spans multiple continents, with partners from the United States, China, Germany, Japan, Morocco, Ivory Coast, United Kingdom and, for the first time, Turkey. The European Union also has the list of sponsors, while long-standing partners like TotalEnergies, Orange, Visa, Puma and Tecno have renewed their commitments.
CAF also entered the eSports and gaming sector with the launch of eAFCON, developed in partnership with Konami’s eFootball, marking the confederation’s first step into digital competition. These digital assets will be part of the CAF commercial portfolio, from the next cycle of the CAN, c
