If they are being paid on (or near) due and there aren’t concerns of their ability to trade, it’s probably unlikely they are in a position to do so - not to mention, winding Foxtel up doesn’t actually help these sporting bodies
And as I said, unless you can corroborate this, it’s hearsay
Given its a competition that was basically invented for subscription television and has very little viewership, this is just fanciful, not to mention that the list has in effect shrunk - this is highly unlikely to actually happen
it was seen by at least 10 people, if they choose to make it public themselves that is up to them.
Needless to say neither side will but it did happen.
Something that is up to them, it’s been done before just remember that.
and why is that an issue? Prior to Super Rugby the “QLD v NSW” matches were on FTA, one could say that those matches were pulled from FTA due to basically circumventing anti-siphoning laws, in fact I think that was also tested in court way back in 1996 right at the same time as Super League was then their was WRC.
Again just because you are not a fan of Union does not mean its not a high ranking national sport here.
The only widespread interest in Australia in Rugby Union is in the Bledisloe Cup (though that is diminishing), when Australia plays in the World Cup final, and when the World Cup has been played in Australia. Outside of that there is very little interest in club, national, and international Rugby Union.
It still is, it’s a shame that its been dragged down by sheer stupidity that said the fact there are others outside of Fox Sports that want it and are prepared pay for it and not act as a spoiler shows that it’s still very much viable.
Anti-siphoning can’t force FTA operators to bid. Anti-siphoning doesn’t guarantee an event airs on FTA - as ODI/T20 international cricket fans will be well aware of.
It is all in the hands of the ARU though - they just have to choose to take wide coverage over money, and then find a broadcaster to be willing to take it.
It’s not “viable” for Optus Sport - they’d have to gain something like 150k subscribers a year who are only in it for the Union content - to break even on their proposed rights fee.
Given on Fox how low the ratings are for Super Rugby matches, expecting 3x the average audience of a match to sign up to a new service just to keep watching is not at all realistic.
Optus losing money to nab rights off Foxtel who were losing money is not sustainable, and neither is a chance for Union to turn its fortunes around.
I doubt they’d go exclusive to Optus though. There would be a free to air component more so than the current deal. You’d think ten were involved somewhere.
As it stands also all of Optus content is produced externally. They only produce in studio stuff. So production of matches would cost them a lot more than their current business model.
I get Optus Sport included with my Optus NBN Fetch account and included with my Optus post-paid mobile, so I have two Optus Sport subscriptions. I’ve only watched it on a handful of occasions out of curiosity, never because I specifically wanted to watch a soccer game.
I had it when I had Optus Fetch on my old ADSL2, I watched it a few times during World Cup. I’ve since switched to iiNet Cable with iiNet Fetch, but can still access it via my post paid Optus mobile, but I’m not interested in the content and using an app to watch it is not as easy.
He is spot on. Even accounting for the blatant pro-News Corp bias in this article, Rugby Australia are mad to walk away from whatever Foxel has offered.
i’m a rugby fan. i go to all the reds home games and all the test natches in brisbane and the gold coast. I was recently in auckland and did the behind the scenes tour of eden park. even pinned on the wall behind my pc at work is a wallabies flag.
but if they go to optus thats it for me. i already pay enough to watch AFL, F1, Cricket and MLB. i’m not paying more for rugby
And this will be a common thread across people who walk away from watching the sport - as it stands, Optus Sport doesn’t currently offer real value if you aren’t into Soccer, expecting people to pay for that and rugby will be a stretch
Optus would want to sign up a few more Sports pretty quickly
I would say I am in to soccer but what Optus offers in not my cup of tea. I have a fetch mighty i have outright for a FTA recorder replacing my Mystar box (IQ4 can only record 1 FTA at a time) and my wife has an Optus phone so I get Optus Sports for free but I barley turn it on.
BeIN Sports has better quality and a larger range of leagues from around the globe compared to Optus which really only has the EPL. I have even started to watch less Champions league and Euro Qualifiers not just because its on Optus but it being on that platform has not helped. Any Sport moving across to Optus are really only going to get hardcore fans which is a big risk for rugby