The Nouvelle Chaine Ivoirienne (NCI) will broadcast the first ever FIFA Club World Cup free of charge and exclusively in Côte d'Ivoire from June 15.
In 2022, NCI decided to acquire and broadcast major soccer competitions (2022 World Cup, 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, and 2024 Champions League). With the broadcast of this new competition, the channel is confirming its strategy of focusing its programming on sporting events.
During this new competition, 32 teams from six confederations will compete for the title from June 15 to July 13, 2025, in the United States.
The African teams that have qualified for this competition are:
Wydad AC (MOROCCO)
Al Ahly FC (EGYPT)
Espérance Sportive de Tunisie (TUNISIA)
Mamelodi Sundowns FC (SOUTH AFRICA)
It should be noted that the exclusive global broadcasting rights for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup are held by the streaming platform DAZN.
For the African market, DAZN has chosen to entrust the distribution of these rights to Iris Sport Media, which acts as the official distributor for sub-Saharan Africa. Iris Sport Media relies on local partners such as PC Plus Group Holding (Ivory Coast) and Marketing & Media Solutions (Switzerland) to optimize distribution across the continent.
Until recently, African rights were mainly held by major pay-TV broadcasters such as beIN Sports, Canal+ Afrique, and SuperSport. In 2022, a new entrant, Newworld TV, shook up the sports rights market by acquiring, among others, the broadcasting rights for the 2022 World Cup, the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, and the Champions League.
The arrival of DAZN marks the entry of yet another major player into the highly coveted sports rights market.
To date, NCI is the only African channel to have announced that it will broadcast the 2025 tournament.