Asian soccer’s Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has renewed a significant media rights tie-up with heavyweight sports broadcaster ESPN, for the 2025-28 cycle.
Through a deal unveiled today, ESPN will continue as the exclusive media partner for the array of top-tier AFC competitions, in Central and South America, and as a non-exclusive partner in the Caribbean.
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The agreement covers properties including the 2027 Asian Cup national teams tournament (taking place in , as well as the Champions League Elite and Champions League Two club competitions. These will be covered on ESPN’s range of platforms, including the Disney+ streaming service.
Before the extension, the previous deal between the two parties – made public in September 2021 – had come to a conclusion at the end of last year. That deal was brokered by the Football Marketing Asia agency (the AFC’s commercial agreements now are handled by Asia Football Group).
In terms of ESPN’s recent activity in these regions, late last month the broadcaster announced the extension of its tie-up in the Caribbean with English men’s soccer’s top-tier Premier League, also for the 2025-28 cycle.
ESPN is one of the foremost sports broadcasters in general, across the Americas.
Michael Walters, vice president for programming and acquisitions at ESPN International, has said: "At ESPN, our main goal is to serve the sports fan with a vast array of sportive events and our experts’ analysis. We're thrilled to renew this agreement, so that audiences in Latin America, Central America, and the Caribbean can continue to enjoy the AFC’s competitions in real time through ESPN’s linear channels and Disney+.”
Datuk Seri Windsor John, general secretary of the AFC, added: “ESPN … have been strong supporters of Asian football and played a key role in expanding the reach of our competitions well beyond the borders of our continent.
“This deal demonstrates the remarkable appeal and stature of the AFC’s world-class competitions, and we thank ESPN for their firm belief in the future of Asian football.”
Last week, the AFC and Chinese financial technology firm Du Xiaoman Technology disclosed a new partnership.
Through the agreement, the firm has been named as a global supporter of the AFC Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
