As we announced in our special report on sports rights in French-speaking Africa, a call for tenders for the marketing of broadcasting rights for the 2019 African Cup of Nations was launched by CAF to identify the next free-to-air broadcasters of the competition.
Read: Sports rights: who are the main players?
The verdict is in: the UAR has been granted exclusive rights to broadcast the upcoming 2019-2023 AFCON matches in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football met in Cairo to decide on the marketing of the rights to this major competition. The meeting brought an end to a long period of negotiations.
With just a few weeks to go before the kick-off of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, this announcement has clarified the situation somewhat. All that remains to be seen is which media outlets will be chosen to broadcast the competition's matches. The UAR is therefore expected to begin marketing the TV rights to channels in the near future.
As for Senegal, one of the countries that qualified for the competition, the question of broadcasting remains unresolved: in January 2019, TFM, the leading channel in Senegal in terms of audience share, which is not part of the UAR, signed a contract with the FDFA, which presents itself as the exclusive agent of the CAF in sub-Saharan Africa, for the broadcasting of CAN matches in Senegal.
In this context, the UAR is suggesting sharing the broadcasting rights with RTS. This uncertainty could be resolved if the various participants are able to show reason.
As for pay TV, the CANAL+ group has signed an agreement with CAF and Lagardère Sports covering the broadcasting rights for CAF's main official competitions until 2026. In an exclusive interview with Adweknow, Pierre Chaudesaygues, Director of Sports Channels at Canal+ International, revealed the broad outlines of the system put in place to cover the 2019 AFCON.
Read: Interview with Pierre Chaudesaygues, Director of Sports Channels at Canal+ International
Regarding the cost of broadcasting rights, UAR CEO Grégoire Ndjaka has expressed his desire to keep them at an affordable level. However, the allocation of free-to-air broadcasting rights for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations is subject to certain conditions that will be discussed between the UAR and the CAF.
Everything you need to know about sports rights in French-speaking Africa