Canal+ has secured exclusive rights, in all languages, to every Uefa men’s club competition in sub-Saharan Africa for four seasons from mid-2027 until 2031, covering the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League in more than 40 countries.

SuperSport, long the region’s Uefa broadcaster, keeps the competitions. In French-speaking Africa, Canal+ Sport regains full Champions League coverage and adds the Europa and Conference leagues on an exclusive French-language basis for the first time.

The counterparty is UC3, the joint venture between Uefa and European Football Clubs — formerly the European Club Association — which in March 2025 handed US agency Relevent a global mandate to market and sell the club competitions’ commercial rights for six seasons from 2027/2028 to 2032/2033. Canal+ has taken a four-season package inside a six-season cycle.

The value was not disclosed.

The Uefa deal is a clear statement of where Canal+ intends to compete following the completion of its acquisition of MultiChoice Group — and an admission of where it cannot.

Scripted entertainment has become the cheapest thing on the internet. Netflix, Disney, Amazon and Apple all sell libraries into South Africa at a fraction of what a top-end DStv bouquet costs, and a household that mainly wants prestige drama has no reason to pay a pay-TV premium for it.

Live sport inverts all of that. It cannot be sold to four rivals simultaneously, it is worthless the next morning, and it is the most reliable reason a household tolerates a price increase. It is also the category in which the global streamers have so far declined to spend at scale in Africa.

Rights deals

Canal+ has been acting on that logic since it took control in September 2025:

In May, it renewed SA Rugby’s domestic rights, keeping SuperSport as the sole broadcaster of all SA Rugby domestic competitions and Springbok women’s and age-group matches in sub-Saharan Africa.
On 3 June, the day it listed on the JSE, it confirmed two more: a World Rugby agreement covering the men’s Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2027 and the women’s tournament in 2029, plus the Junior World Championship and Pacific Nations Cup, alongside confirmation that SuperSport retains the United Rugby Championship.
Also on 3 June, an extension with the National Soccer League covering the Betway Premiership, MTN8, Carling Knockout, Nedbank Cup and the Motsepe Foundation Championship.

Read: The end of MultiChoice as we know it

At the same time, it has been taking cost out of entertainment: Showmax was discontinued in March and shut at the end of April, and the customary April price increase was not applied.

Canal+’s half-year numbers, published last week, help explain the strategy. Canal+ reported first-half revenue up 40% and adjusted earnings before interest and tax up 68%, and said MultiChoice’s adjusted Ebit rose 160% to €143-million with subscriber acquisition in MultiChoice countries up 40%. The combined African subscriber base grew 7% and South Africa recorded its best month for new subscribers in a decade in June. Group CEO Maxime Saada conceded that was largely driven by the Fifa World Cup, which has now ended.

Canal+ concedes MultiChoice turnaround is not won - Maxime Saada — Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada

Unlike the World Cup, Champions League football happens every week for four seasons and is likely an attempt to convert a tournament spike into a permanent floor, arresting the subscriber decline.

However, it is also a permanent cost: rights inflation is relentless. Canal+ has bought four seasons of certainty on its most important retention asset, and four seasons of guaranteed expenditure to go with it. The bet is that Africans, including South Africans, will keep paying for football long after they have stopped paying a premium for films. — © 2026 NewsCentral Media