How the fan experience sets a new standard for customer journeys

The spectacle of AFCON 2025 in Morocco is not merely a sporting fixture; it is a continental masterclass in customer journey engineering. With millions of fans transitioning between nine distinct urban centers, the tournament is the ultimate proof-of-concept for how service, technology, and empathy can coalesce to create a unified, high-emotion experience.

For us at Monexpe, the fan journey at AFCON is the perfect microcosm of the modern customer journey across any industry: high-stakes, multi-channel, and entirely driven by instantaneous feedback.

The fan: active participant, not passive spectator

The AFCON fan is your most demanding customer. They are not passive; they are an active, emotionally invested participant who expects immediate reward and effortless service.

The data confirms this hyper-engagement:

• The Interaction Imperative: 64% of Gen Z fans crave interactive content, polls, live chats, AR features (Nielsen Sports). Your customers want to play a part, not just consume.

• The Advocacy Multiplier: A staggering 72% of fans share their live event experiences on social media (PwC Sports Outlook).The moment of service delivery is a moment of free, mass-scale brand amplification (or critique).

The businesses that succeed at AFCON will be those that have perfectly mapped the End-to-End Fan Journey (EFJ). This framework is what Monexpe preaches every day.

Stats show 63% of fans watch sports content weekly on smartphones, while 58% engage in loyalty programs for discounts (McKinsey).

Can you design a journey that is satisfying at every single touchpoint? AFCON 2025 is tackling this challenge head-on with three pivotal innovations.

The new standard: AFCON’s three pillars of journey excellence

The preparations in Morocco are establishing a new baseline for what the African customer will soon expect from all brands.

1. The Seamless "Phygital" Bridge

The AFCON experience collapses the wall between the physical world (the stadium) and the digital world (the app). The journey is fluid and instantaneous.

• The Innovation: Morocco is investing in dedicated, mobile-first fan apps designed not just for ticketing, but for real-time interaction. This allows remote fans to feel part of the action, mirroring innovations seen at events like the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

• The Takeaway: Your business must ensure your customer's identity and data follow them seamlessly. If a customer starts a service request in your app, your in-person agent must be able to resume that conversation instantly. Disconnected data breaks the phygital promise.

2. The Unbreakable Connectivity Promise

In an environment where millions share content simultaneously, high-speed, reliable digital infrastructure is not a luxury, it’s a prerequisite for the fan journey.

• The Innovation: Host cities are prioritizing High-Speed 5G and ubiquitous Wi-Fi to enable instant streaming, social sharing, and cashless payment systems. The goal is zero latency, zero friction. Events like Wimbledon have long set the standard for connected fan journeys with robust, personalized mobile systems.

• The Takeaway: The speed of your service delivery must match the speed of 5G. Any lag in your website, app, or payment system translates directly to customer frustration. Investment in core digital resilience is now fundamental to service quality.

3. Cultural Immersion and Journey Extension

AFCON 2025 recognizes that the customer journey extends far beyond the duration of the match. The multi-city format forces fans to engage with Morocco’s rich and diverse culture.

• The Innovation: The focus on cultural integration ensures fans experience local heritage in cities like Marrakech and Rabat. This echoes the "journey mindset" of the Paris 2024 Olympics, which intentionally integrated community impact and local tourism into the visitor experience.

• The Takeaway: Your brand’s journey must extend beyond the transaction. Design CX that rewards participation, builds community, and integrates local relevance to deepen the emotional connection. The most memorable journeys are those that feel human and contextually relevant.

Actionable Takeaways for Brands

To learn from AFCON 2025, businesses should:

• Invest in interactive digital platforms that keep customers engaged.

• Prioritize connectivity with fast, reliable digital infrastructure.

• Design loyalty programs that reward participation and build long-term relationships.

• Integrate cultural experiences into customer journeys to deepen emotional impact.

• Leverage social sharing as a free amplifier of brand visibility.

The Paris 2024 Olympics emphasized “journey mindset”, designing CX from ticket purchase to community impact. AFCON 2025 is applying the same principle across Africa.

AFCON 2025 is not just about football, it’s about redefining fan experience in Africa. Fans will remember not only the goals scored but the experiences delivered before, during, and after the matches.

For brands, it’s to a new era of customer experience excellence.

Monexpe: measuring soft power and fan experience

The lessons of AFCON 2025 are that CX is a macro discipline: it includes infrastructure, security, and national capacity. This makes the job of tracking customer satisfaction infinitely more complex.

At Monexpe, we provide the tools to measure these complex, interconnected experiences. Our platform doesn't just centralize feedback; it correlates sentimental data with operational data .

The time for tactical CX fixes is over. The time for strategic, resilient, and trust-based service design is now.

Ready to measure your operational resilience and CX trust factor?

Contact us or email us at infos@monexpe.com to discover how Monexpe helps you measure, improve, and amplify customer experience through smarter data.