The Iris Sport Media agency has secured distribution rights across sub-Saharan Africa for broadcast coverage of soccer’s FIFA Club World Cup (CWC) tournament later this year.
This has been achieved through a deal between Iris and DAZN, the worldwide subscription streaming service that secured exclusive global rights to the FIFA event – to be held in the US across June and July – last December, for around $1 billion.
This tie-up covers free-to-air (FTA) as well as pay-TV rights, and to maximize distribution and exposure, Iris has partnered with the Marketing & Media Solutions (MMS) and PC Plus Group firms.
Both of them are experienced operators across sub-Saharan Africa – indeed, they have been distributing FTA rights to African qualifiers for the FIFA 2026 World Cup in the region, as well as World Athletics events.
Iris, meanwhile, has been the sales agent for African 2026 World Cup qualifiers for broadcasters in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, with a deal to that effect having been disclosed in November 2023.
Ioris Francini, Iris Sports Media’s founding partner, said: “The continent has a real passion for the beautiful game and continues to produce top-class footballers successfully plying their trade for many of the best teams in the world. Together with our partners MMS and PC Plus Group Holding, we will offer a unique opportunity for broadcasters to show the best action from some of the top club sides in the world.”
Earlier this month, sports media veteran Lara Vanjak joined Iris as head of business development. She was most recently executive vice president for rights and operations at DAZN.
In terms of the CWC, last week an Egyptian sub-licensing deal for the tournament between DAZN and MBC Group, the Saudi-owned FTA broadcaster, was unveiled.
That was the second sub-licensing deal DAZN secured, following an agreement with US-based Spanish language media giant TelevisaUnivision last month to show 18 matches across Univision, UniMás, and TUDN in the US.
That agreement will see all matches from this year’s tournament, taking place in the US, broadcast on FTA channel MBC Egypt.
The Club World Cup, which kicks off on June 14 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, features the top 32 clubs in the world, playing 63 matches over 29 days.
Of the four African sides set to compete at the 2025 CWC, three from the north of the continent, with only South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns representing sub-Saharan Africa.
Before DAZN stepped in, FIFA had struggled to secure a broadcast partner, with many traditional media giants unwilling to pick up the rights as the competition has proved extremely controversial with many of soccer’s major stakeholders.
Clubs and players are unhappy about the extra games and workload, and a formal complaint and legal action by the players' union FIFPRO was filed around this issue last year.
The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will entail a new format in which continental governing bodies, apart from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), receive multiple team slots.
Outside of soccer, meanwhile, Iris has deals in place across sports including powerboating and curling.
