Optus, the Australian subsidiary of Singtel, has won exclusive Australian rights to the Barclays Premier League for three seasons, commencing in August 2016.
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That change just got sped up in a big way today, with Optus successfully acquiring the broadcast rights for the English Premier League from Fox Sports.
Optus won over the exclusive rights from Foxtel, its largest rival in the telecommunication space in Australia.
With about 930 million followers worldwide, the League is one of the most sought after properties for sports content providers, Optus said.
The shock three-year deal was announced on Monday morning, with industry analysts suggesting the telco could have paid around $50 million annually. Motley Fool Singapore contributor Stanley Lim doesn’t own shares in any companies mentioned.
The Australian Financial Review has rumoured that Optus’ $50 million bid for the rights was “significantly higher” that any amount offered by Fox Sports or beIN and while it has not been confirmed in exactly what manner we will see the Premier League delivered under the new deal, their online viewing service FetchTV will likely be a driving force. Back in 2009, iiNet renewed a contract to offer live and on-demand coverage of EPL games through Fox Sports, giving customers unmetered access through its quota-free Freezone portal. iiNet users later lost access, with the ISP confirming in 2010 that it was “unable to secure the rights” to the 2010/11 season.
Optus chief executive Allen Lew said: “This is another significant step in our strategy to become a mobile-led multimedia company”.
Optus would not confirm its broadcast model, but a spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia: “our goal is to make this content available to as many fans as possible”.
“Foxtel and in particular Fox Sports remains the only place you can get a truly comprehensive sports offering”, said a spokesperson.
The latest deal comes as a huge blow to Foxtel, who pride themselves on their sports coverage and have six dedicated sports channels.
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The EPL is particularly popular within Australia’s healthy English ex-pat community and is arguably the most prestigious – and popular – football league in the world.
