MMS secures Olympic Games media rights across sub-Saharan Africa through 2032

Image by Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has struck a media rights agreement with Marketing & Media Solutions (MMS), giving the sports marketing agency free-to-view broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games across 44 sub-Saharan African territories from 2026 through 2032.

The partnership covers some of the biggest events on the global sporting calendar - the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games, the French Alps 2030 Olympic Winter Games, and the Dakar 2026 and Dolomiti Valtellina 2028 Youth Olympic Games.

Under the agreement, MMS will distribute rights to broadcasters across the region, guaranteeing free coverage of more than 200 hours for the Olympic Summer Games and ensuring Winter Games coverage reaches local audiences continent-wide.

The partnership kicks off this year with the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, set to begin on 31 October — a landmark moment as the first Olympic sports event ever to be held on African soil.

Anne-Sophie Voumard, Managing Director of IOC Television and Marketing Services, said: "We are pleased to reach this agreement with MMS and start working together to ensure fantastic free coverage of the Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games across sub-Saharan Africa."

MMS CEO Redha Chibani framed the deal as the beginning of a new era for Olympic broadcasting on the continent. "We are delighted to partner with the IOC, which has demonstrated a strong commitment to working hand in hand with free-to-view broadcasters across sub-Saharan Africa. The IOC and MMS are ready to open a new chapter for the Olympic Games: we will create a platform where broadcasters can build Olympic Games tailored to their audience, stakeholders and sponsors, with the common objective of delivering the best viewing experience in each country," he said.

For MMS, the agreement adds significant weight to an already growing portfolio in the region. The agency, founded in 2022, previously distributed the FIFA World Cup 2026 African Qualifiers and currently holds media rights for World Athletics (2024–2029) and AFC competitions (2025–2029) across sub-Saharan Africa. It also recently delivered the FIFA Club World Cup 2025.

The 44 territories covered under the agreement are: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. With Dakar 2026 on the horizon and three major Olympic events to follow, MMS is positioning itself as the dominant force in African sports media distribution for the decade ahead.

*Chad and Djibouti are covered under non-exclusive media rights, and the agreement does not include Youth Olympic Games media rights in Senegal.