Arsenal Draws 150 Million Eyes Ahead of PSG Clash — Champions League Results
More than 150 million people will watch the champions league results unfold when PSG meet Arsenal later today, and the final has become a continent-wide event because of Arsenal’s support across Africa. Arsenal arrive after winning the Premier League title last week, their first in 22 years, which has already triggered huge street celebrations from Nairobi to Kampala.
Arsenal Across Africa
The club’s reach was visible in Kenya, where tens of thousands of people and possibly as many as a million poured onto streets and highways after the title win. Supporters climbed lamp-posts, waved flags, sang club songs and brought traffic to a standstill.
One widely shared clip captured a supporter describing the title as a victory that had overcome the hatred of the entire world. Another group made a celebratory pilgrimage to the grave of Raila Odinga, the late Kenyan opposition leader, former prime minister and Arsenal supporter.
Arsenal’s pull was just as strong in Addis Ababa, where fans turned the city into car parades and chanting crowds, and in Kampala, where thousands gathered in Nsambya for an all-night concert called vimbisa Arsenal. One fan livestreamed the Nsambya event for supporters unable to attend, while worshippers across Africa wore Arsenal-themed tunics while heading to church or mosque after the victory.
Wenger, DStv and the Club’s Reach
The crowd response fits a wider history that began with the Premier League’s launch in 1992, then expanded as clubs including Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea built African fanbases. DStv acquired Premier League rights in 2000 and began showing live matches across sub-Saharan Africa through SuperSport channels, creating shared viewing habits that helped turn league football into a weekly ritual.
Arsène Wenger joined Arsenal from the Japanese league in 1996, and by the time he left in 2018 the club had become a symbol of African football’s rise in the Premier League and London’s African diaspora. That history now feeds into a final that is set to draw more than 150 million viewers, with Arsenal’s fan base turning the match into more than a club event.
For supporters, the buildup has already moved beyond the stadium. The scale of the celebrations in Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda suggests that the final will be watched as a shared public occasion, not just a television fixture, with Arsenal carrying the weight of a title surge that has already spilled into streets, churches, mosques and concert grounds.
