A pair of agencies – Media Experts Limited (MEL) and Media Business Solutions (MBS) – have snapped up a package of exclusive free-to-air rights for the 2027 men's Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) national teams soccer tournament.
Through a deal unveiled in the last few days, those two agencies have snapped up FTA rights to that tournament – to be held across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania – in sub-Saharan Africa (over 40 nations, overall).
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Pay-TV rights have been allocated already, with heavyweight Canal+ holding these (across the English, French, and Portuguese languages). That agreement was made public late last month.
Through this latest deal, the agency pair will seek to identify FTA partners for the competition in all sub-Saharan markets, including in the three host nations.
The countries included feature some of African soccer's traditional powerhouses; Ghana and Nigeria, for example.
The deal also covers a range of other tournaments organized by African soccer's governing body CAF, including youth editions of AFCON.
The tender for all these sub-Saharan AFCON rights – FTA and pay-TV – went live in late August.
MBS has previously worked with CAF around distribution of the 2023 AFCON, while MEL has already held similar distribution rights for the 2026 Women's AFCON – staged in Morocco across late July and August.
Kunle Falodun, chief executive at MEL, commented: "Free-to-air TV is where Africa watches its biggest moments together, and AFCON is the biggest football moment we have. For brands and corporate sponsors, it is an opportunity to stand alongside Africa's most-watched national team competition with the reach and trust that only free-to-air delivers."
The 2027 AFCON will run between June 19 and July 17, and will be the first edition of that tournament to take place in East Africa since 1976, when Ethiopia played host.
It will also mark the first-ever AFCON to be staged across three countries.
The last men's AFCON was held in Morocco, across December 2025 and January this year, and was won by the hosts (who were given a 3-0 victory by a CAF appeal board well after the tournament itself, following an incident-packed final against Senegal).
Having walked off the pitch in protest for 17 minutes following a refereeing decision, Senegal were thus stripped of the title after the event by CAF – despite having won the match 1-0 after this protest.
At the moment, the men's 2027 AFCON is also set to be the last biennial edition of the event, with the top African soccer event switching to a quadrennial schedule after next year.
