Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has been a roaring success that has symbolised the bright future of the world game in Africa. Record number of goals, booming social media channels and incredible upsets set up a future-defining campaign for all African football enthusiasts.
In a press conference before the final of the competition, Patrick Motsepe, president of the Confederation of African Football, claimed nearly 2 billion people watched the Africa Cup of Nations 2023 over the past month. This indicates an over 300% growth from AFCON 2021 in Cameroon which reached around 600 million viewers across 160 different nations.
This incredible reach was made possible due to many significant factors, most being extremely positive and setting a tremendous foundation due to the continent’s steep rise in football popularity across the last few years.
Record prize money and revenue earned
Before the tournament started, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced a 40% increase in the prize money for winning Afcon. The winning national team, hosts Ivory Coast, took home AUD$10.7 million while runners-up Nigeria took AUD$6.1 million, third place South Africa took AUD$3.8 million and the fourth placed D.R Congo team took home AUD$1.9 million.
AFCON this campaign had a record 17 commercial partners, and the competition is estimated to also smash the previous revenue record of AUD$93.4 million. CAF is estimated to be earning around AUD$114.6 million in sponsorship revenue from this year’s AFCON according to London-based market research firm GlobalData.
Global viewership and increased media coverage
Matches were shown in about 180 countries through deals with partner broadcasters like Sky, Canal+, beIN Sport, BBC, and MultiChoice, as well as 45 Free To Air broadcasters.
Australians were afforded the opportunity to watch every AFCON 2024 game live and in HD thanks to beIN Sports.
Media accreditation at the event was more than doubled from the last AFCON, with over 6,000 journalists applying for accreditation from all over the world. The increased coverage on social media platforms played a huge role in its international popularity.
Star attractions
There is no denying the enormous role played by star players who featured in this stacked AFCON tournament which is also proving that Africa as a continent is turning over elite talent like never before.
Huge international names like Victor Osimhen, Achraf Hakimi, Mohamed Salah and Mohammed Kudus are just four names out of many that most football fans would consider quite entertaining to watch. This erray of talent makes any football fan excited to tune into matches, even as a complete neutral.
World class facilities
Côte d’Ivoire really stepped up their game in preparation for this tournament, with planning years in advance to host a world class event.
AUD$1.53 billion was estimated to have been spent on renovating roads, stadiums, hospitals and other infrastructure in preparation for the tournament. Beyond renovating existing stadiums, the country built three new venues, two with a 20,000 capacity and the new Alassane Ouattara stadium, named after the president of the country, which seats over 60,000 spectators and was used for the Final of the tournament.
A fairytale ending for the hosts Côte d’Ivoire capped off a groundbreaking tournament that is proven to the world just how serious Africa is about its footballing development. With a host of exciting youngsters and more funding going directly into grassroots and professional football, there is only one trajectory that we can expect for the continent, and that is straight up.
