The Confederation of African Football disclosed that the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025 has achieved the highest commercial success in the history of African football, recording over 90 per cent increase in revenues.
In a statement cited by TVC News on its official website on Friday, CAF stated that the achievement was driven by expanded sponsorship deals, broader media rights distribution and entry into new markets, particularly in Asia.
The statement reads, “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.
“This is driven by a significant increase in the commercial partners of CAF, an increase in media rights distribution and also CAF venturing into new markets, most notably the Far East, China, Japan, while also consolidating traditional markets.”
CAF attributed the surge to the growth in commercial sponsors, saying, “The growth has been matched by a steady expansion of the sponsor portfolio. 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 Cote d’Ivoire 2023.
“For the 2025 edition in Morocco, CAF has continued to attract more partners and now has 23 sponsors. This expansion reflects 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.”
CAF further disclosed that the data-driven strategy deployed fuelled the global commercial surge of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, saying that the initiative 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.
The statement reads, “Following the conclusion of the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Cote d’Ivoire 2023, the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) undertook an extensive analysis to better understand audience demand across regions.
“The findings revealed strong and previously underexploited interest in several international markets, providing a clear roadmap for future commercial engagement.
“These insights informed CAF’s sponsorship and broadcast strategy for the current cycle, with targeted focus placed on regions demonstrating high engagement levels, including China, Japan, Brazil and key European markets.”
CAF stated that the expanded global footprint positioned the tournament with sponsors base now spanning across multiple continents, with partners originating from countries including the United States, China, Germany, Japan, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, the United Kingdom and, for the first time, Turkey.
The football authority also disclosed that the European Union has joined as a sponsor, underlining the competition’s broadened international appeal.
While long-term partners such as TotalEnergies, Orange, Lonaci, 1xBet, Visa, Tecno, and Puma have continued their association with the competition, brands including AGL, Danone and Unilever have also renewed.
Conclusively, the statement revealed that the key new pillar of commercial strategy has been the introduction of e-AFCON, saying for the first time in CAF history, “the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations has entered the e-Gaming space through a partnership with Konami, through its game eFootball.
The statement reads, “CAF is currently developing e-AFCON, marking a significant step for the African eSports ecosystem.
“From the next TotalEnergies CAF AFCON onwards, these digital assets will also form part of CAF’s commercial assets inventory.”
