Fox Sports kicks off its expanded sports strategy as BeIn Sports channels go live
Foxtel launched three new beIN sports channels over the weeken
Foxtel has officially kicked off its strategy to counter the loss of the English Premier League to Optus with three new BeIn Sports channels going live over the weekend.
The three new channels, which have been added to the Fox Sports subscription package for free, launched on Sunday with viewers waking to live Major League Soccer from the US.
Foxtel hastily cobbled together the deal to carry the channels in the months after the Optus gazumped the broadcaster to win the EPL rights.
BeIn sports executives see the launch of the three channels as a key part of the company’s Asia Pacific strategy.
“The new Australian BeIn Sports channels are a key component of our Asia Pacific presence and we are pleased to extend our relationship with Foxtel to bring these high quality channels in HD to the market leading Foxtel platform,” BeIn Media Group deputy CEO Yousef Al-Obaidly said.
With no EPL to promote, Foxtel will now focus on the exclusive rights owned by BeIn, including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga.
It will also carry South American football including the South American FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Brazilian Serie A and Sao Paulo Championship.
The channels will also promote exclusive Rugby Union content with the European Rugby Champions Cup, and the Six Nations tournament, as well as selected Wallabies and All Blacks’ games.
Optus EPL plans have angered fans
Foxtel has moved to sidestep Optus and keep EPL fans happy, signing deals directly with six EPL clubs to carry their matches on delay.
It is believed the broadcaster is continuing to negotiate with other clubs to strike similar agreements.
At the same time, Optus’ decision to link subscriptions to phone and broadband plans for its customers wanting to watch the league rather than offering a standalone EPL product has provoked an angry backlash with many calling for Optus to return the rights to Foxtel.
Simon, this is a poor piece of badly researched writing. You call this deal hastily cobbled together. The technical logistics of getting 3 HD and SD channels would be a major issue as well as getting an other company (BeIN) to agree to Foxtel terms, would have beed a massive feat by the Foxtel negotiating team. Don’t forget the channels are no extra charge to Foxtel porting pack subscribers (for now).
The second point is even more glaring. “With no EPL to promote, Fox Sports will now focus on the exclusive rights owned by beIN, including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga.” Fox Sports didn’t do the deal to get BeIN on the platform. Foxtel did. Fox Sports is in competition for eye balls and advertisers. Ask Patrick Delany if he’s happy about it. The Foxtel CEO has done all the talking not Fox Sports or ESPN for that matter in regard to BeIN coming to the sports pack.
User ID not verified.