Good News for DStv Subscribers As Canal+ Announces 4 Year Deal
- Canal+ secured exclusive rights to broadcast the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Conference League across more than 40 sub-Saharan African countries
- The deal runs for four seasons from mid-2027 to 2031, with SuperSport set to continue as the region's home of European club football
- Canal+ has been building its live sports portfolio aggressively since taking control of MultiChoice in September 2025
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DStv subscribers across sub-Saharan Africa including Nigeria will continue watching Europe's top club football competitions without interruption after Canal+ confirmed it has acquired exclusive broadcasting rights to UEFA's men's club tournaments for the next four seasons.
The French media company said it secured rights, covering all languages, to the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Conference League across more than 40 countries in the region.
Source: Getty Images
The arrangement runs from mid-2027 through to 2031.
SuperSport, the sports broadcasting arm of DStv, will carry the competitions as part of the deal, maintaining its long-held position as the go-to destination for UEFA football in sub-Saharan Africa. In French-speaking African markets, Canal+ Sport will also regain full Champions League coverage and, for the first time, hold exclusive French-language rights to both the Europa League and the Conference League.
The financial details of the agreement were not made public.
Canal+ acquired the rights from UC3, a joint venture between UEFA and the European Club Association.
UC3 appointed sports marketing agency Relevent in 2025 to handle commercial rights sales for UEFA men's club competitions covering the 2027/28 to 2032/33 cycles. Canal+'s deal accounts for four of those six seasons.
Canal+'s Push to Make Sport the Centre of DStv
The deal is the latest move in Canal+'s plan to anchor DStv's appeal around live sport following its takeover of MultiChoice Group in September 2025.
The company has moved quickly since then, building out a broad sporting portfolio to compete in a crowded entertainment market where streaming platforms continue to challenge pay television.
To fund its sports-led approach, Canal+ pulled back on entertainment costs, shutting down Showmax earlier this year and holding off on its customary annual subscription price increase.
Canal+'s most recent half-year figures suggest the approach is working.
Revenue climbed 40%, while adjusted earnings before interest and tax rose 68%. Within MultiChoice specifically, adjusted earnings before interest and tax jumped 160% to €143 million, and subscriber acquisition across MultiChoice markets increased 40%.
Source: UGC
The combined African subscriber base grew 7%, with South Africa recording its best month for new subscribers in ten years during June.
Canal+ credited much of that growth to the FIFA World Cup but said weekly UEFA club football is expected to keep subscribers engaged well beyond the tournament, making the Champions League a central part of DStv's long-term offer to football fans across the continent.
DStv subscribers retain access to 12 channels
Previously, Legit.ng reported that DStv customers across Africa would continue enjoying 12 popular television channels after Canal+ reached a new distribution agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery, avoiding their planned removal from the pay-TV platform.
The channels, which include CNN International and Cartoon Network, were originally set to stop airing on DStv from January 1, 2026, following prolonged negotiations between the two companies.
However, Canal+ announced on December 30 that both parties had signed a new multi-year, multi-territory distribution agreement, extending their long-standing partnership and ensuring the channels remained available to subscribers.
Source: Legit.ng
