A record number of European broadcast rights deals have been secured for the upcoming men's Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) national teams soccer tournament.

In total, African soccer's CAF governing body has brought in 20 partners across 30 European territories, with these tie-ups facilitated by its media rights agency IMG.

The 24-team tournament, taking place in Morocco, runs between December 21 and January 18.

Noteworthy deals include Channel 4 in the UK (announced earlier this month), which entails all 52 matches being free-to-air (FTA) in that market for the first time, as well as a new agreement in Spain with Movistar.

In addition, Greek FTA network ERT will bring the AFCON back for audiences in that country, while in Norway, the tournament will be shown FTA for the first time, through a tie-up with VGTV.

IMG has also noted returning broadcasters such as Sport Italia, the Netherlands' Ziggo Sport, and SportDigital across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, as key agreements.

Many of the expected stars of the next AFCON play their club soccer for European teams.

In terms of recent CAF activity, earlier this month, the body added Moroccan railway ONCF to its stable of AFCON sponsors, with the company to play a key role in the transit of fans, teams, and officials across the tournament's host cities - Casablanca, Rabat, Agadir, Marrakech, Fez, and Tangier.