A-League club members will be given access to discounted memberships to new ViacomCBS streaming service Paramount+, at a rate cheaper than the $8.99 standard monthly cost, when the platform launches in August.
The Central Coast Mariners are the first club to have included a 12-month subscription in any Gold or Platinum membership, or for an additional $70 on top of ordinary club membership, a discount of $37.88 on a yearly basis.
As a monthly cost, that works out to $5.83, making it comfortably cheaper than any other streaming service in Australia.
Sydney FC and Melbourne City have confirmed via Twitter that a similar offer will be made available for their members, many of whom have already renewed their memberships for next season.
Mumbrella understands the offer is likely to become available across all A-League clubs before the 2021/22 season gets underway.
A spokesperson for the APL confirmed: “To enable A-League and W-League Club members to watch their team, clubs will be making 12-month Paramount+ subscriptions available to all members as part of their memberships. Further details will be released before the launch of Paramount+ which is scheduled for August 11.”
The deal was first alluded to in May, when Network Ten’s parent company ViacomCBS recently signed five-year deal with the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) to broadcast the A-League and W-League across its Network Ten free-to-air channels and Paramount+. The deal brought to an end the A-League’s 15-year affiliation with Foxtel and Fox Sports.
At that time, the APL said football fans and members of clubs would be given a special deal to access games on Paramount+, which launches well before the next season on 11 August.
The subscription will give subscribers access to all domestic matches as part of the A-League, W-League and FFA Cup, as well as all matches played by Australian national teams the Socceroos, Matildas and Ollyroos outside of the World Cup.
The agreement between ViacomCBS and the APL also contains an Australian first, with some A-League games to be broadcast on a major free-to-air commercial television channel (excluding multi-channels).
The FFA Cup final will be broadcast free-to-air on Ten, as will one match each Saturday evening, while Ten will broadcast a weekly League game on 10 Bold each Sunday.
In addition, Paramount+ subscribers will get access to various Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competitions, which will work out to an extra 300 club and national team games including the AFC Champions League through to 2024.