Morocco 2025: A Commercial Triumph for African Football

The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco has established itself as the most commercially successful tournament in the history of continental football. According to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the competition has generated a revenue increase of more than 90%, marking an unprecedented and historic performance.

This spectacular financial growth is attributed to a significant expansion of CAF’s commercial partners, increased distribution of media rights, and a strategic opening to new international markets.

A Global Commercial Breakthrough

The sheer number of sponsors supporting the tournament illustrates this rapid expansion. While the 2021 edition in Cameroon attracted nine sponsors, and the 2023 edition in Côte d’Ivoire secured 17, the 2025 tournament in Morocco boasts 23 commercial partners.

CAF notes that the event is viewed as delivering an excellent return on investment for historical partners while simultaneously attracting major international brands. The sponsor portfolio now spans the globe, with partners hailing from Morocco, the United States, China, Germany, Japan, Côte d’Ivoire, the United Kingdom, and Turkey.

“This spectacular progression is explained by several determining factors: the significant enlargement of the portfolio of commercial partners… as well as the opening towards new markets, notably in the Far East—in particular China and Japan—while consolidating traditional markets,” CAF explained in its statement.

The commercial surge between 2021 and 2025 was not accidental but the result of deep data analysis designed to better understand audience expectations. This approach allowed CAF to reposition the competition as a truly global football property.

The results highlighted strong, previously under-exploited interest in several international regions, providing a clear roadmap for future development. Consequently, broadcasting and sponsorship strategies for the current cycle specifically targeted regions with high engagement potential, including China, Japan, Brazil, and key European markets.

A major new pillar of CAF’s commercial strategy is the launch of the “eAFCON”. For the first time, the competition has entered the world of gaming and eSports through the *eFootball* title.

CAF describes this as a significant step forward for the African eSports ecosystem. “Starting from the next editions of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, these digital assets will fully be part of CAF’s commercial inventory,” the organization stated.

The tournament concludes this Sunday, January 18, with the highly anticipated final between Morocco and Senegal at the Moulay Abdellah Complex in Rabat.