SportyTV, the African free-to-air sports broadcaster, has agreed an exclusive deal with rights holder Iris Sport Media to broadcast the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup international club soccer competition across multiple African markets.
A total of 26 of the tournament’s 63 games will be broadcast exclusively by SportyTV in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya, and will be shown on the broadcaster’s primary linear channel, as well as on its sporty.com digital platform.
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This will include 19 group stage fixtures, three round-of-16 games, two quarter finals, and one match each from the semi-finals and the showpiece final.
In addition, every match featuring South African side Mamelodi Sundowns, the sole representative from sub-Saharan Africa in the competition, will be showcased on SportyTV, with its fixtures to take place against Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Fluminense (Brazil), and Ulsan HD (South Korea).
Other prominent fixtures SportyTV will showcase include PSG vs Atlético Madrid, Flamengo vs Chelsea, Real Madrid vs Al Hilal, and Lionel Messi's Inter Miami vs Porto.
The rights deal coincides with the coming launch of SportyTV’s free-to-air network offering in Kenya, which will begin the week before the tournament.
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By GlobalDataThe competition will kick off on June 15, 2025, and will be played in 12 venues across the US, culminating with the final on July 13.
Iris Sports Media, which dealt with SportyTV for the rights, picked up the distribution rights across Sub-Saharan Africa from global rights holder DAZN back in February.
To maximize distribution and exposure, Iris partnered with the Marketing & Media Solutions (MMS) and PC Plus Group firms, both of which boast experience in the sector.
The only other deal agreed in Africa for the Club World Cup concerns Egypt, where MBC Group, the Saudi-owned FTA broadcaster, struck a sub-licensing deal directly with DAZN.
DAZN picked up the CWC rights last December, for around $1 billion, and promptly set out to secure regional and national sublicensing deals across the globe in an effort to enhance the event’s distribution.
Before DAZN stepped in, FIFA had struggled to secure a broadcast partner, with many traditional media giants unwilling to pick up the rights as the competition had proved extremely controversial with many of soccer’s major stakeholders.
For DAZN, Iris Sports Media has also brokered several sub-licensing deals in Central America, particularly with broadcasters in Costa Rica (Teletica), El Salvador (Canal 4 TCS), Guatemala (TV Azteca), Honduras (Televicentro), Nicaragua (Canal 13), and Panama (Next TV).
While none of the above countries are represented at the CWC by any club sides, there are six teams in total present from North and Central America and the Caribbean – three each from the US and Mexico.
