The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has opened the bidding process for broadcasters seeking rights to show the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The tender covers both free-to-air television and pay-TV rights for the tournament, which will be jointly hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
Broadcasters will be able to bid for coverage in several languages, including English, Swahili, Portuguese, isiZulu, Wolof and Yoruba, alongside other local languages.
However, the current tender does not include French-language pay-TV rights.
Interested media companies have until 14 September 2026 at 17:00 Cairo time to submit their bids to CAF.
The opening of the tender is a major step in the preparations for the 2027 tournament, which will be staged across East Africa from 19 June to 17 July 2027.
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will make history by becoming the first three East African countries to jointly host the continent’s flagship men’s international football competition.
The tournament is expected to attract a large television audience across Africa, making the broadcast rights particularly important for CAF and the participating host nations.
CAF is seeking broadcasters capable of providing coverage to audiences throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, with the inclusion of multiple languages intended to increase the reach of the competition.
The availability of English and Swahili rights is particularly significant given the tournament’s East African setting, while Portuguese and a number of widely spoken African languages will also be included in the bidding process.
French-language pay-TV rights, however, remain outside the scope of the latest tender.
The deadline gives broadcasters and media organisations several weeks to prepare and submit their proposals as CAF continues its commercial and organisational preparations for the tournament.
The 2027 AFCON will be the first edition to be hosted jointly by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, adding further significance to an event that is already expected to draw considerable interest from football supporters across the continent.
For broadcasters, securing the rights would provide access to one of Africa’s most watched sporting competitions, while CAF will be looking to establish a broadcast network capable of delivering the tournament to as wide an audience as possible.
The bidding process is therefore expected to attract interest from a number of television and media companies across Sub-Saharan Africa.
With the tournament less than a year away, the award of the broadcast rights will be another important milestone as preparations gather pace for an AFCON that will bring the continent’s leading men’s national teams to East Africa.
