The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will tender its commercial rights for the 2029-36 period from December 15.
All commercial rights across those eight years – encompassing two distinct rights cycles of the AFC's club and national team competitions – will be tendered, as will the "fulfilment of associated commercial services."
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Two different tenders – one for agencies looking to market and sell the AFC's commercial rights, and the other for broadcasters looking to buy packages of AFC media rights.
Currently, the AFC's exclusive commercial agency for the 2023-28 cycle is Asia Football Group (AFG). The AFC announced its partnership with that entity in September 2023, days after terminating a contract with Football Marketing Asia (FMA), with AFG taking over all the soccer body's commercial and media rights.
The two invitations to tender (ITT) to be issued in December cover top-tier AFC national team tournaments such as the Asian Cup (next set to take place in 2027, and then following that, in 2031), the Women's Asian Cup, and the AFC Champions League annual club competition.
Interested parties – either sports marketing agencies, broadcasters, or operators of audiovisual media services – should submit expressions of interest to the AFC by contacting tenderprocess.commercial@the-afc.com.
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By GlobalDataBidders will also be able to "make proposals with respect to specified packages of rights," the AFC has said, with the deadline set for 5:00pm on January 29 next year.
In terms of AFC commercial activity, the continental soccer body unveiled a partnership renewal with Barbican, the non-alcoholic malt drinks brand, earlier this week.
The extension will see Barbican continue as the official global supporter of AFC club competitions for the ongoing 2025-26 season.
The AFC has also recently named skincare brand Aveeno as the official regional partner in Australia for the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup, taking place in that country.
