The battle for TV rights around CAN 2025 is intensifying in Côte d’Ivoire. For this edition, the TNT channels: RTI and NCI as well as CANAL+, the main distributor of pay television in French-speaking Africa, hold the broadcasting rights. According to our information, the decision of the High Authority of Audiovisual Communication (HACA) dated September 2023 should apply for this edition. It requires pay operators to reserve major sporting events for subscription packages higher than those giving access to local channels. In this scenario, the CAN 2025 matches would be accessible on RTI and NCI via the smallest CANAL+ bouquet package while the operator’s dedicated channel, CANAL+ CAN, would only be available to subscribers of higher packages.
Accusations
If this configuration could offer an advantage in audience and advertising revenue to local channels in Côte d’Ivoire, a letter signed by French-speaking African channels addressed to CAF, including RTI and NCI, indicates that they would only hold 33 out of the 52 CAN matches. The channels accuse CAF of favoring a non-African operator at the expense of public broadcasters. An argument difficult to support.
In fact, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) does not directly distribute the broadcasting rights of the CAN to television channels. Indeed, in November 2023, CAF awarded the exclusive broadcasting rights of all matches of CAN 2024 and 2025 to the Togolese group New World TV in 46 sub-Saharan African countries. In this logic, the operator grants sublicenses to television channels in different countries, including French-speaking channels accusing CAF. It therefore appears impossible for CAF, which has already transferred the rights of CAN 2025 to New World TV since 2023, to be responsible for a possible limitation of broadcasting rights for French-speaking media. The accusations of favoritism by CAF towards a non-African operator are unsustainable. In other words, if the broadcasting rights quota is a problem, decisions are made in the negotiation between television channels and New World TV.
Meeting between French-speaking channels and New World TV in Lomé
New World TV organized an information and working seminar on November 23 and 24, 2025 in Lomé to equip media holding its sublicense with the broadcasting of CAN matches. The operator made no mention of a possible change in the allocation of CAN TV rights. The French-speaking media signatories of the letter accusing CAF, and contractually linked to New World TV, participated. They did not accuse the Togolese group of violating the sublicense contracts by only offering them the broadcasting rights of 33 out of the 52 matches of the competition.
In a statement released to the press, they rather targeted a new scapegoat. “We wish to express our deep concern and disagreement with the new policy for the marketing of the broadcasting rights of the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2025, as established by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) through its exclusive agent, New World TV.”
Is there really a new marketing policy specific to CAN 2025? Why did French-speaking channels sign with New World TV if the conditions were unfavorable? Why would the exclusive holder have only transferred part of the rights if the contract did not provide for any limitation? Did New World TV act in favor of a competitor that is nevertheless accused of maneuvering in the shadows? Unanswered questions that discredit the accusations.
History and cooperation with TNT channels
Recent rights allocations show an environment where actors operate in real and balanced competition. During the last World Cup, CANAL+, despite being the historical holder, did not obtain the rights in French. As the rights holder, New World TV had granted NCI the exclusive broadcasting rights of 28 matches in French in Côte d’Ivoire. An amicable agreement had led CANAL+ to give up broadcasting the competition in English via its Supersport channel, leaving NCI with exclusivity in Côte d’Ivoire. The subsequent challenge from Life TV and RTI to HACA, alleging favoritism towards NCI, had ultimately been dropped. The episode illustrates the usual cooperation logic between different pay and free content operators in Côte d’Ivoire, with the aim of ensuring access to content for as many people as possible.
A competitive market
Competition remains fierce. In the Champions League, CANAL+, long the exclusive rights holder in French-speaking Africa, now only broadcasts a selection of matches. The Togolese group New World TV has secured all rights, a sign of a profound market redistribution. In this context, accusations suggesting that CANAL+ worked to limit French-speaking channels’ access to CAN rights appear weak. The operator itself has lost the broadcasting rights of several major international competitions to African actors and should, according to our information, bear the consequences in Côte d’Ivoire of HACA’s decision.
As a reminder, the majority of Ivorian viewers access local channels via the CANAL+ bouquet. In other French-speaking countries, except for Côte d’Ivoire, CANAL+ CAN remains accessible from the smallest subscription package, confirming the group’s consistent line in favor of broad accessibility to major competitions.
