CBS Sports Grabs Exclusive Rights to Asian Football Confederation; More Than 300 Matches to Be Streamed on Paramount+

CBS Sports and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have signed a multi-platform agreement for Paramount+ to serve as the exclusive U.S. home of AFC’s competitions including the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar Final Round, AFC Champions League, AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2022, and AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

“The addition of Asian Football further elevates our extensive lineup of live soccer coverage on Paramount+, highlighted by elite club competition and some of the top national teams across both the men’s and women’s international game,” says Jeffrey Gerttula, Executive Vice President and General Manager, CBS Sports Digital. “Offering matches from this expansive region provides even more value by delivering year-round soccer coverage at a time of day where the sport traditionally isn’t offered to American fans.”

Paramount+ will deliver more than 300 club and national team matches live through 2024. Coverage begins in September with the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar Final Round, featuring Asia’s top 12 nations, with the competition continuing in 2022. Paramount+ coverage also includes the remainder of the 2021 AFC Champions League from the Knockout Stage matches through the Final in November. The service will be the home of the AFC Men’s Champions League each season through 2024.

“The AFC is delighted to enter into this partnership with CBS Sports, which represents another progressive step towards increasing the visibility and consumption of the AFC’s competitions beyond our Continent,” says Dato’ Windsor John, the AFC General Secretary. “We look forward to working with CBS Sports in growing the fanbase of the AFC’s world-class competitions in the vibrant North American market as well as in the AFC’s territories in Guam and Northern Mariana Islands and we thank them for believing in the future of Asian football.”

CBS Sports Digital will deliver additional coverage and original programming and feature highlights across social channels and CBS Sports HQ, the 24/7 streaming sports news network.

“We are thrilled to welcome CBS Sports to the family of AFC media partners. This partnership marks another important step on our mission to bring Asian football to ever bigger global audiences; hence we are proud to see the AFC’s national team and club competitions soon being available across the U.S.,” says Patrick Murphy, Board Member and CEO at Football Marketing Asia (FMA). “We are looking forward to working with CBS Sports to provide an exciting experience for its viewers, and to continue to grow the audience of Asian football fans in North America.”

CBS Sports’ coverage of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup edition, which also serves as the qualifiers for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia/New Zealand 2023, begins in 2022, while coverage of the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 begins in June 2023. Additional coverage details will be announced in advance of each respective competition.