For millions of Africans, football is more than just a sport, it is a moment of celebration and an expression of collective joy. The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, most important sporty event in Africa is examined here, along with its infrastructure, ticket sales and attendance, media coverage, team sponsorship, and revenue.
Football is more than simply a sport in Africa; it’s a way of life that allows one to fully appreciate the continent’s rich cultural diversity. It serves as a vehicle for expression and a unifying force for people. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the governing and administrative authority for futsal, beach soccer, and association football in Africa. Africa’s premier men’s association football competition is called the Africa Cup of Nations. It was staged for the first time in 1957 and is approved by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It has been conducted every two years since 1968, moving to odd-numbered years in 2013. The start date of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), Côte d’Ivoire 2023 was January 13, 2024, and ends on February 11, 2024. The best football players in Africa are together for the competition, which is in its 34th year. Now, a final four will be decided as we move one step closer to learning who will be crowned champions of Africa. Nonetheless, with elite African players stealing the show, interest in African football has surged internationally recently among both corporate sponsors and supporters.
Ivory Coast’s Investment Worth Billion Dollars
Ivory Coast’s hosting of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations will further accelerate the country’s impressive rebound since its civil war ended in 2011, the Ivorian government hopes. By its own admission, the government has invested at least $1 billion on hosting the tournament, having built four new stadiums while renovating two others. The nation wants to establish itself as a top African travel destination and a pioneer in business travel as part of the government’s “Sublime Ivory Coast” initiative. As part of this national strategy, brand-new resorts and luxury hotel complexes have emerged, ready to receive a global clientele.
Additionally, the effort includes the construction of four new stadiums and the renovation of two existing ones in five host cities. Airports, roads, hospitals, and hotels have also seen significant improvements in Abidjan, Bouake, Korhogo, San Pedro, and Yamoussoukro. The African Development Bank Group provided funding for the construction of Abidjan’s fourth bridge, the “Y4” bypass, and the urban highways of Civil Prison and Dabou. On Wednesday, January 10, just days before the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations football tournament gets underway, Ivorian Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé opened them to traffic. The Abidjan Urban Transport Project (PTUA), which is a part of the Master Plan for the Urban Transportation of Greater Abidjan, is what led to the construction of the bridges. Approximately 1.4 kilometres in length, the fourth bridge spans Banco Bay – an arm of the Ebrié Lagoon – to link Plateau and Adjamé municipalities and Yopougon via Attécoubé.
The fourth bridge will expedite the movement of goods between the south of the city, where the port and Vridi industrial estate are located, and the west and north, where new industrial estates have been springing up rapidly, according to the country’s Minister of Equipment and Road Maintenance, Amédé Koffi Kouakou. The bridge, which features 24 tollbooths, is also a preferred transit route between Abidjan’s port and international corridors serving the landlocked countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, which use the port to gain access to the ocean. Almost 70,000 vehicles will use the bridge each day, the linked access roads for which will make daily travel easier for hundreds of thousands of Abidjan inhabitants and help relieve congestion on existing roads. With a cost of €160 million, the bridge took 65 months, around five and a half years, to construct.
Read Also: Ivory Coast’s Economy in Time of African Nations Cup
Who makes AFCON 2023 Possible?
After the World Cup and the European Championship, the AFCON is the third-biggest football competition in the world. Thanks to its global viewership of over 500 million, the AFCON event has proven to be an extremely valuable tool for sponsors looking to expand their brand into the African market. According to CAF, TotalEnergies is a partner and title sponsor of the 10 main competitions of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 2016. Then, TotalEnergies entered into an eight-year partnership with the CAF, the sport’s governing body on the continent, which has been renamed the Total Africa Cup of Nations and then the TotalEnergies AFCON. Following a five-year agreement struck in 2019, German tyre manufacturer Continental, known for its distinctive orange and black advertising colours, is still supporting AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire.
Known for its innovation and commitment to motorcycle riders worldwide, and with a strong presence in West Africa, Apsonic is celebrated as the only motorcycle brand to sponsor the Cote d’Ivoire tournament. Confédération Africaine de Football (“CAF”) and Orange have renewed their long-standing Partnership, the French telecoms giant confirmed the extension of its partnership with AFCON late last year. TECNO, global leader in Technology, proudly announced its sponsorship of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) last year, joining the sponsorship roster for the first time. Visa, the world leader in digital payments sponsorships have been a long-term fixture of major football tournaments. The second-largest payment-technology corporation worldwide, Mastercard has sponsored the UEFA Champions League since 1994. Visa’s CAF partnership began in 2019, and last year the agreement was extended to 2026.
Official sponsors the historic event are: Air Côte d’Ivoire, the flag carrier of Ivory Coast, based in Abidjan. Ecobank, the leading pan-African financial services group joins the AFCON sponsorship. he German brand Puma is hopeful that its new partnership with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) can help it realise the “enormous potential” of the consumer market in Africa. The company is the biggest supplier of kits at the tournament through its partnerships with the soccer associations of the host nation and reigning champions Senegal, as well as Egypt, Morocco, Ghana and Guinea. In November 2023, Razzl soft drink was announced as the official soft drink of the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations. Razzl, a new soft drink produced by Cameroonian brewery UCB. The partnership with CAF highlights Razzl’s commitment to creating memorable experiences, celebrating the love for football, and contributing to an electrifying ambience that unites fans in their passion for the game. Other top sponsors include Rexona (also known as Shield, Sure), Dove, Dove Men+Care and Axe. And the national level sponsors are Celeste, LONACI, Porteo and Smart Technologies.
A leading data and analytics company, Global Data has indicated that, said: ‘‘Across the 16 deals signed, there are 11 different industries that are involved in the main tournament sponsorship setup, with most only having one deal. Across the 24 teams competing at the AFCON tournament in 2024, there are 153 confirmed sponsorship deals. In terms of commercial incomings from across the 24 active teams involved in this years AFCON, the overall sums can be described as limited. There has been a growth in AFCON team sponsorships compared to previous years, with the most lucrative deal between PUMA and Egypt, worth a total of $8.5 million across two years.’’
An Extraordinary Media turnout for AFCON Côte d’Ivoire 2023
As major broadcasters picked up the 2021 AFCON (Covid delayed to early 2022), fan conversations on social media skyrocketed. If previous figures are matched, then 157 countries will broadcast the 2023 AFCON (Delayed to 2024). Last time around, social media impressions hit 950m with TikTok, 1bn and the CAF X/Twitter account hosted 22m visitors. In the build up to the tournament, corporate brands from diverse industries have jostled to become or remain CAF partners. Reportedly bringing in $54.25m in sponsorship revenue. In doing so, they provide a lens with which to view the evolving economies of the vast and inherently complex continent. In a similar vein, before the tournament CAF revealed a fresh batch of agreements for broadcast rights. These include media deals with a number of other organizations, including beIN, Canal+, Band TV in Brazil, and the BBC and Sky in the UK. Thanks to these arrangements, 180 countries worldwide will be able to watch the tournament live. More than 6,000 media applications for accreditation were also disclosed by CAF. This is over twice as many applications as were submitted for the last AFCON.
The Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) said, ‘’Global sports marketing agency IMG was responsible for securing broadcast deals with media partners outside the Middle East and North Africa region and Sub-Saharan Africa in its role as CAF’s international distribution partner. Over 20 global broadcast deals have been agreed for the competition, including high-profile sports media networks such as Sky in the UK, SportItalia in Italy, Ziggo in the Netherlands, and the LaLiga+ streaming service in Spain. While most of the deals centered around Europe, where a number of the tournament’s biggest stars play at club level, several deals were also agreed outside of the continent, including with streaming service Fancode in India, Band TV in Brazil, and Sport 5 in Israel. Several of CAF’s broadcast deals included multi-national channels that cover whole regions of Europe, namely with Sport Klub for the Balkan region, Viaplay in the Nordic countries, Megogo for Ukraine, Poland and Kazakhstan, and Sport Digital, which operates in Germany and Switzerland.’’
According to Global Data, CAF currently stands as the most-followed continental soccer federation on social media, with a combined 14.7 million followers. Breaking down the social media data for the 24 active teams involved in this years AFCON competition, it is Morocco who led the way in terms of the team’s social media following, followed by the seven-time AFCON Champions, Egypt. On the face of it, none of the individual national teams have huge accounts, with only two over two million across the three accounts analysed. This helps showcase how the continent still requires much development in its soccer, especially when looking towards the bottom end of the table, which sees limited following of nations such as Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, both under 100,000 fans.
Sales of Tickets Break Records
The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) launched tickets sale on Saturday, 11 November 2023. As expected, the hosts, Ivory Coast recorded the highest number if ticket sold with 32,307 tickets already sold out. Remarkably, Nigeria group opponents, Guinea-Bissau with 28,314 tickets sold came second. Equatorial Guinea who will trade tackles with the Super Eagles in their first match in 14th January sold 16,237 tickets. CAF said more than 60% of tickets sold through its online platform internationally. The federation said a dedicated fully functional and user-friendly platform had been developed on the CAF website to create a pleasant and seamless fan experience for interested persons. Veron Mosengo-Omba, CAF General Secretary, said the federation was committed to creating access to thousands of football fans, who will travel to Cote d’Ivoire to watch the event. “Online tickets will enhance ticketing experience for fans of African football and the general public. “The support from the stakeholders has been great and we are hopeful of meeting the increasing demands of the fans and the general public,” he said.
Ticket prices range from 5000 FCFA (about 8 US Dollars) for Category Three (3), 10000 FCFA (about 16 US Dollars) for Category Two (2) and 15000 FCFA (about 24 US Dollars). Fans have the opportunity to purchase tickets for the group stage with an opportunity of six tickets for each household. Similarly, there are 51 selling points across Cote d’Ivoire where local fans and supporters can access tickets for matches of their choice. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has adopted online ticket sales for games of AFCON 2023. The interest of fans and huge attendance during Cote D’Ivoire’s three group games might have been responsible for these early sales of online tickets which have now been reportedly finished. The second Group A game between Cote D’Ivoire and Nigeria holds the record for the largest attendance at AFCON 2023 with over 57,000 spectators at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Ebimpe, Abidjan. There is now massive demand for Nigeria’s matchday tickets at the ongoing 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. According to the organizers, 22,000 fans were in attendance when the Super Eagles defeated the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon 2-0 last Saturday. Nigerians are heavily represented in Cote d’Ivoire, and the people have been supportive of the Super Eagles.
With Quarterfinals of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 kick-off this weekend, football fans can book their seat in the next phase of ticket sales that will kick-off on Friday, 02 February. An action-packed line-up awaits enthusiasts in the quest for spots at the last four of the continental showpiece sporting event. The matches take place in Abidjan, Bouake and Yamoussoukro.
The Prize Money for AFCON 2023
On January 4, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced an increase in the prize money for the winner of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, by 40%. CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe said; “CAF has made significant progress over the past two years in increasing the Prize Money of the AFCON and all its other major competitions. We have increased the Prize Money of the AFCON Winner to USD 7 000 000 which is a 40% increase from the previous AFCON Prize Money. I am confident that a portion of the Prize Money will contribute to developing football, benefit all the football stakeholders, and assist our Member Associations with their administrations.”
The Confederation of African Football indicated that the 2023 AFCON winner will get $7 million in prize money for winning the championship. Four million dollars will go to the runners-up. Each of the two teams who lose in the semifinals will get $2.5 million. The four losing quarterfinalists will get $1.3 million apiece farther down the ladder. Each of the eight teams eliminated in the round of 16 will receive $800,000. Moreover, two groups that placed third in their respective groups but did not advance will split $700,000. Each of the six groups’ bottom-finishing teams received $500,000. AFCON 2019 Winner, Algeria, received $4.5 million, and Senegal, the runners-up, was awarded $2.5 million. CAF decided to raise the prize amounts for the 2021 edition, Senegal received $5 million, and Egypt, the runners-up, got $2.75 million.
$21.6m Increase in CAF Commercial Revenues
In the meantime, the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON or CAN) generated the highest revenue for the Confédération Africaine De Football (CAF). In 2022, the competition’s revenue reached over 79.7 million U.S. dollars. That year, Senegal won their first title taking place in Cameroon. The tournament was supposed to take place in 2021, but was postponed to 2022 as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Furthermore, inter club tournaments generated almost 35.4 million U.S. dollars as of the same year. In 2021, inter clubs granted CAF its highest revenue of close to 46.3 million U.S. dollars. In July, 2023, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), posted, commercial revenues of USD $125.2 million – a 17% year on year increase. CAF said the significant increase of $21.6 million in revenue growth over the 2022 financial year was largely driven by an increase in both CAF’s sponsorship and television rights, setting the organisation firmly on a path to financial recovery. The total competition expenses on prize money and tournaments for the 2023 increased by 26% to $78.9 million. CAF projected a further revenue increase in last financial year – on the back of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023.
The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has recorded progress in its commercial value with its teams securing 153 deals collectively for the 2024 competition. However, despite this progress, AFCON teams’ commercial value is still fairly limited in both value and volume when compared to other leagues around the world, Global Data report said. The report indicated that, ‘‘The 2023 AFCON competition sees 16 sponsorship deals, with TotalEnergies being the highest profile sponsor, occupying almost half of the tournament’s annual value, while also being the competition’s official title partner. Given the vast and extensive nature of this deal, it is easy to understand how this deal stands out. Unlike other soccer competitions around the world, which have partnerships with brands that have been running for years, this year’s collection of deals for AFCON has a different approach, with most deals in their early years.’’ According to the report, Algeria tops the list in terms of sponsorship revenue for African national teams. However, the overall sum of the teams’ commercial incomings can be described as somewhat limited in comparison to the types of numbers soccer is used to seeing across European nations and clubs, whereby sometimes sponsorship deals account for tens of millions of dollars for a single partnership. Unfortunately, outside of AFCON and World Cup competitions, African-based teams are not a highly commercial entity.
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