AIPS ASIA News:

The AFC announced today the extension of its media partnership with Sportdigital, who will continue to be the Official Broadcaster for the AFC’s club and national team competitions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for the 2025-2028 cycle.

The AFC’s standing partnership with Sportdigital for the 2021-2024 cycle included top national team competitions such as the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™, AFC U23 Asian Cup™ 2022 and 2024, as well as selected youth and futsal competitions. Sportdigital has also been the home for the AFC’s new club competition, the AFC Champions League Two™ for the 2024/25 season.

The partnership extension, which covers the period from 2025 to 2028, will see Sportdigital hold broadcasting rights to all of the AFC’s major competitions in the aforementioned markets. Sportdigital will air all matches of the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to 26™, the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ and AFC Champions League Elite™ on a live or delayed basis. They will also extend their coverage of selected matches from other competitions such as the AFC Champions League Two™, the AFC U23 Asian Cup™ Saudi Arabia 2026 as well as the 2028 edition, and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026™, amongst others. Matches will either be broadcast through Sportdigital’s television channels, Sportdigital FUSSBALL and Sportdigital FUSSBALL 2, or their digital services, SCOOORE! and Sportdigital+.

Datuk Seri Windsor John, the AFC General Secretary, said: “Sportdigital has played a key role in strengthening the appeal and reach of the AFC’s world-class competitions in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in recent years and we are delighted to build upon our existing relationship particularly as we embrace the riveting new era of the AFC’s revamped competitions.

“We thank Sportdigital for their unwavering faith in Asian football and we look forward to working in close partnership with them as we look to grow our ever-expanding fanbase across the globe.”

Gisbert Wundram, Managing Director of Sportdigital, pointed out: “The extension and growth of our existing partnership with the AFC for the next five years is an important step for us, not only in terms of expanding our football portfolio. The diversity and breadth of the AFC competitions appeal to one of the largest and most relevant audiences for us globally, from the Middle East to the entire Pacific region. We are delighted to be able to bring the quality of the AFC’s top competitions to this interesting target group in the German-speaking world, and to expand our football offering for years to come.”

Patrick Murphy, CEO of AFG said: “We would like to thank Sportdigital for their collaboration in getting this partnership extension above the line and for putting their trust once again in the AFC’s competitions to provide world class football action and entertainment to their viewers. This partnership extension is a testament to the continuous growth and rising popularity of Asian football across the globe. We look forward to working with Sportdigital to deliver exceptional programming to fans in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.”

About the AFC
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of Asian football and one of the six Confederations making up FIFA. Established in 1954, the AFC is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and comprises 47 Member Associations.

The AFC organises the AFC Asian Cup™, the AFC Women’s Asian Cup™ and the AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ which are the flagship Continental national team football and futsal competitions, while the AFC Champions League Elite™ and AFC Women’s Champions League™ are the premier competitions for Asian clubs, drawing millions of fans to the beautiful game across the length and breadth of the Continent and beyond.

About Sportdigital
As a specialist for sports TV channels and sports media offerings, Sportdigital TV Sende- und Produktions GmbH operates several pay-TV channels in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Its core competencies include the marketing of media offerings via distribution partners on all relevant media platforms, linear or non-linear, free or pay, online, live, VOD and via mobile apps.

Founded in 2007, Sportdigital has expanded its business relationships with all national and international sports rights holders, sports rights agencies, associations and marketers over the years and has a strong network of decision-makers.

Sportdigital currently operates four different linear pay TV channels in the DACH region from its Hamburg office. Sportdigital FUSSBALL was and is the first linear pay TV channel in Europe to show exclusively monothematic coverage of international soccer. Sportdigital TV Sende-und Produktions GmbH also operates Sportdigital EDGE, an action and outdoor pay-TV sports channel, as well as a purely monothematic equestrian and equestrian sports TV channel in close cooperation with ClipMyHorse, Europe’s largest equestrian sports portal.

About Asia Football Group
Asia Football Group (AFG) is the exclusive commercial agency for the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) competitions from 2023-2028. AFG’s partnership with the AFC covers the commercial rights for all major AFC National Team and Club competitions, including the AFC Asian Cup™, AFC Asian Qualifiers™, AFC Women’s Asian Cup™, AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifiers, AFC Champions League Elite™, AFC Women’s Champions League™, and AFC Champions League Two™ as well as AFC youth and futsal competitions.

Courtesy AFC