UK television company BBC has secured live coverage of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) competition in Côte d’Ivoire. The broadcaster will televise ten matches during the competition and include highlights from other matches.
The match highlights will be aired on BBC Sport online and social media channels. On the other hand, BBC Three and BBC iPlayer will air the live matches.
BBC to Air Select Live AFCON Games
The AFCON games are currently in their 34th edition. The tournament started on Saturday, January 13. BBC aired the live opening match between Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer.
It will also air select group-stage matches. The first is the Ghana vs. Egypt match happening on January 18. It will also air the Zambia vs. Morocco game scheduled for January 24.
The broadcaster will also air two matches from the round of 16 on BBC Three and iPlayer. It will also air two matches from the quarterfinals, the semi-finals, and the final game, which is expected to have a massive viewership.
BBC has also said that Jermaine Jenas will be the lead at presenting duties for the semi-finals and the final match.
Renowned African international players will join Jenas in the studio to analyze the matches. The studio will also feature renowned voices in the soccer world who will share their commentary during the competition.
The broadcaster will also keep fans entertained and informed through BBC Sport online. This channel will ensure fans are updated about all the action happening during the tournament.
“Our expectations don’t really match the reality…It’s a shock for us really.”@kwes1appiah joins @JohnBennettBBC to dissect Ghana’s 🇬🇭 shock defeat to Cape Verde 🇨🇻 at #AFCON2023 😮
Listen to the latest World Football at Afcon 🎧👇https://t.co/rAPIwt6HsC pic.twitter.com/GITaavVKoE
— BBC World Service Sport (@BBCWSSport) January 15, 2024
The tournament is already attracting a large fan base as they seek to see whether Senegal will retain its title as the 2021 champion.
BBC will keep the fans entertained with live scores, digital highlights, and top news stories revolving around the sport. The broadcaster’s social media channels will also feature these highlights.
BBC Adds To Its Sports Portfolio
The deal between BBC and AFCON adds to the broadcaster’s sports portfolio. This portfolio includes the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the FA Cup, the Olympic Games, the Six Nations, the Premier League, and the Wimbledon Championships.
While discussing bagging the AFCON rights, Stephen Lyle opined that audiences would secure live free-to-air coverage of AFCON games.
Lyle said,
In 2021, AFCON delivered the highest audience for BBC Three since it returned as a linear channel at 1.3m, demonstrating the strong demand from audiences. Our TV rights package includes ten matches from across every stage of the competition, meaning fans can follow the excitement and drama of this huge international competition from beginning to end.
CAF Secures Over 20 Global Deals for AFCON
The BBC deal for AFCON follows an announcement by the CAF about concluding TV rights sales for the 2023 tournament with more than 20 global deals, including top sports media networks like Sport Italia, Ziggo, LaLiga+, Band TV, Fancode, and Sport 5.
The deal with Multichoice on January 11 will see the matches airing across Africa.
IMG brokered these marketing deals for AFCON. IMG is the global distribution partner for the CAF in all regions apart from Middle, North, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The 2023 edition of AFCON involves 24 leading teams from Africa. The tournament was initially slated for 2023. However, poor weather conditions in Ivory Coast led to the games’ postponement by a year.
The 35th edition of the AFCON tournament is scheduled for 2025. The tournament will happen in Morocco mid-next year, putting AFCON games on par with other national team tournaments.
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