Whether you call it football, soccer, or “The Beautiful Game,” it remains the world’s most-watched sport, with around 40% of the global population interested in it.  

It’s no wonder then that the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), hosted in Côte d'Ivoire in 2024, has emerged as a monumental success story in sports broadcasting. The Tournament set new records and captured the imagination of a total unique audience of 10.3 million viewers during the semi-final between Nigeria and South Africa on SuperSport and SABC platforms.

This and other key insights have been revealed in the latest data from Nielsen Sports SA, a global leader in audience measurement for brands, federations, rightsholders and broadcasters. Globally, AFCON has delivered over 1.4 billion cumulative TV viewers, according to Nielsen.

African football fandom has seen unprecedented growth since last year, with Bafana-Bafana’s journey to the AFCON semi-final drawing record numbers of viewers. The latest AFCON tournament truly stood out from the previous year’s competition, with a total unique audience 54% higher than its predecessor, equating to 22,3 million viewers watching AFCON and related broadcasts vs 2022’s 14,4 million. 

Key matches, including the semi-finals featuring Nigeria vs South Africa and DRC vs Côte d'Ivoire and the quarter-finals, topped the AFCON viewer ratings, reflecting the highest audience engagement. Notably, however, 70% of the broadcast hours throughout the Tournament featured on SuperSport, with a total unique audience of 3.7 million. This reaffirms pay TV’s unrivalled dominance in delivering premium sports content to audiences.

Despite SuperSport only being awarded broadcast rights two weeks before the opening match, AFCON’s appeal elevated it to the top of Africa’s football league viewership standings, with more unique viewers than any of the other football leagues featured on DStv’s dedicated sports channels. It ranked even higher than the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and it bears mentioning that AFCON had fewer fixtures over the tournament period.

Additionally, the Pay-TV channels emerged as the preferred viewing platform during AFCON 2023, given that parallel broadcasts of the same matches aired on free-to-air channels, but the majority of viewers chose to watch on a DStv-SuperSport channel rather than free-to-air.

AFCON scored higher in viewership than the PSL, Premier League, Champions League and La Liga. Viewership also surpassed that of the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final, and kept climbing as the tournament progressed and the South African team rose through the ranks.  

Tumelo Selikane, Managing Director at Nielsen Sports SA, explains, “AFCON was a milestone win for South African broadcasters, the South African sports industry and SAFA (The South African Football Association). It has also enabled us to extract powerful insights marketers can access through our research to craft compelling narratives that resonate with audiences worldwide."

 Errol Madlala, Commercial and Marketing Manager from SAFA adds, “AFCON 2023 went beyond mere viewership numbers as it also became a narrative and commercial driver, especially when Bafana Bafana^® was in action. Our partners were able to leverage the tournament with fan activations driven by broadcast as our team progressed. As the tournament continues its growing influence in the global sports industry, AFCON remains a testament to African football fans' unwavering passion and resilience within the continent and expats in many parts of the world.”

 Luxolo September, Head of TV/Commercial at CAF said: “The unprecedented success of AFCON is a big vote of confidence in African football. It proves that with the right people in place, African football is a globally competitive product that delivers commercial returns. Thanks to SuperSport and SABC for their amazing quality coverage.”