Optus Sport

Television Subscription and International
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Is this still any chance of happening?

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If Stan was to get the EPL, then it might hasten any effort for Optus to exit the market

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Optus Sport is doing a live streaming of the Europa League final watchalong event on YouTube, live from Sydney’s Surry Hills Hotel on Thursday morning from 4.45am AEST. OzSpurs (the official Australian supporters group of Tottenham Hotspur) is hosting the sold out event.

(Note the match is live on Stan Sport and 9Gem)

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Interestingly Gem is also showing the UEFA Conference league final and UEFA Champions league final live too.

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AFR article says negotiations for EPL between Optus and Nine are “advanced and ongoing” with price still the sticking point.

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If the deal with Nine/Stan falls through, who else might be interested? DAZN maybe?

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You’d think P+ would want the extra international football content and/or subscribers, but same with Nine price would absolutely be a sticking point.

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DAZN (they want to establish themselves as the Home of Football in Australia-New Zealand) or P+ are the other options.

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DAZN has shown some interest of getting football back on the Foxtel platform but has yet to secure any Foxtel exclusive content, everything has been through global rights they already have.

BeIN Sports, ESPN, Amazon Prime could also be outside runners for the rights

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DAZN’s sole objective with Foxtel was, is, and always will be to use the platform as a conduit for distributing their rights. They have neither the intention nor the incentive to acquire rights exclusively for the Foxtel Group, as they no longer regard it as an independent entity.

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Well V8 super cars really shouldn’t be entering into a deal with them. It’s extraordinarily risky. The sport is already teetering into irrelevancy with its current structure and rights package. It has become more and more niche of late.

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Optus Sport will show the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League finals live from Germany this week. The host will face Portugal in Munich in the first semi final (5am AEST Thursday), followed by Spain v France from Stuttgart (5am AEST Friday). The semi final losers will meet in the third place play-off in Stuttgart (Sunday 11pm AEST) while the winners will clash in the final in Munich (Monday 5am AEST).

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Optus Sport will broadcast the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 tournament live and exclusive from Switzerland in July.

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They’ve been promoting the tournament

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Optus Sport to transfer Premier League and Emirates FA Cup football rights to Stan

Optus has today announced it has accepted an offer from Nine Entertainment Co and Stan to assign the rights to the Premier League and Emirates FA Cup for the remainder of the rights term.

Under the agreement, Stan will provide Optus Sport customers (who remain Optus telecommunications customers) with discounted pricing so that they can continue to watch the Premier League and other transferred content and provide additional offers to Optus Sport customers who subscribe to Stan Entertainment and Stan Sport.

Optus will make contributions to the rights payments that Stan makes to the Premier League.

On completion, Stan will pay Optus an upfront payment of $20m and a significant contribution towards the first payment of the next rights cycle.

Stan will begin broadcasting the Premier League ahead of the season kick-off on August 16.

Stephen Rue, Optus CEO said a decision had been made to focus on Optus’ core operations in telecommunications, its commitment to customers, and unlocking further value for the business in the future.

“Optus Sport has delivered outstanding sports broadcasting to Australian football lovers for almost a decade,” Mr Rue said,

“One of our key priorities was to find a home for Optus Sport content which would take the game forward and enable all Optus Sport subscribers to continue to receive uninterrupted access to all their favourite football action.

“Optus Sport customers and the game of football will be in great hands at Stan, and we know the game will receive the broadcasting priority it deserves from an organisation whose speciality is delivering quality sports programming to its customers.”

The rights to the J. League and National Women’s Soccer League will also be transferred to Stan under the agreement.

Customers will receive detailed information and special offers in coming days to ensure the transition to Stan is as simple as possible.

Matt Stanton, Nine CEO said the agreement would further strengthen the Group’s premium sport portfolio across streaming, digital and free-to-air platforms.

“The Premier League is the most-watched football league on the planet, and alongside the FA Cup, this acquisition reinforces Nine’s position as the home of sport in Australia. We are proud to deliver these iconic competitions to Australian audiences through Stan Sport,” Mr Stanton said.

Following the transition of sports rights on 1 August, Optus Sport will be closing in its entirety.

Mr Rue said Optus had made a significant contribution to growing and developing the world game in Australia through Optus Sport since it was first launched in 2016.

“We are proud of the contribution of Optus Sport to the elevation of football broadcasting in this country and have watched audiences in both the men and women’s game continue to grow during this time, “ Mr Rue said.

“Among all the games streamed over the last decade, clear highlights include the broadcast of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup hosted in Australia, which was a historic moment for Optus and women’s sport across the globe, and the Men’s UEFA EURO 2024 hosted in Germany.”

Fans will still be able to tune into the broadcast of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 championship commencing in July on Optus Sport.

Customers seeking further information can contact 1800 501 356 or go to the support page on our website: optus.com.au/oshelp

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One of the FAQs at the Optus Sport help page is:

What will happen to the other football leagues currently on Optus Sport?

Stan Sport will carry the Premier League, Emirates FA Cup, J.League and NSWL but the availability of other leagues may differ. Please check Stan Sport for their latest offering.

Optus Sport currently has the Australian rights to UEFA Nations League, UEFA World Cup Qualifiers, Germany’s DFB-Pokal, Korea’s K-League and FA Women’s Super League. Stan may pick up these competitions or leave them to other streamers or Foxtel.

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