The EPL is considered the crown jewel of football rights and was the last major rights package available for streaming services in this market that will be able to drive subscriptions. Other sports such as the NRL,AFL,rugby,netball,A-League and Formula One have renegotiated their rights or moved to alternative services.
Australia’s streaming market has evolved rapidly since the creation of Optus Sport,and the telco now fights for broadcast deals against a range of services,such as Kayo Sports,Stan Sport,Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video. This competition raised concerns inside Optus that it may not be able to pay enough money to keep the rights to the EPL,according to people familiar with the matter.
Stan,which is owned by Nine Entertainment - the owner of this masthead - was hoping to secure the EPL aftersnatching the rights to the UEFA Champions League from Optus earlier this year. But sources familiar with its position,who spoke anonymously,said it did not end up submitting a bid because of an expectation the EPL would expect a premium on its current rights deal. Nine is in advanced talks abouta $600 million five-year deal with the NRL.
Industry sources,familiar with the blind auction process,said Kayo Sports and Paramount+ were also involved in the tender. Paramount+ and parent company Network Ten have already agreed to tip in $300 million into the A-Leagues,Socceroos and Matildas over the next five years. Sources close to the deal said it came in second at the blind auction,which was run by the EPL this month.
The extension with Optus will put pressure on Paramount+,which only launched in August. It will broadcast its first A-League Mens match on Friday night,but is left needing another major football or entertainment acquisition to support their ambitions of becoming one of Australia’s most popular streaming services.
Loading
There was some talk in the media industry that Optus may move away from its sport strategy altogether as negotiations for the rights to the EPL began to heat up and executives - such as director of sport Richard Bayliss - moved onto new opportunities.
But Optus sources said it was always determined to secure an extension. A sign of that ambition could be seen when it broadcast the Euro 2020 tournament earlier this year and nabbed the domestic broadcast rights to the 2023 Women’s World Cup,to be played in Australia and New Zealand. The broadcast rights are valuable to Optus as it is key to their mobile customer strategy. It increases the telco’s average revenue per user,allows it to chase new customers,and minimises churn of existing customers. The telco said on Friday it now has more than 1 million subscribers.
Sports news,results and expert commentary.Sign up for our Sport newsletter.