Optus snatches broadcast and digital rights for English Premier League from Fox Sports
In a bold move Optus has grabbed the broadcast and digital rights for the English Premier League, challenging both Telstra and Fox Sports in a single step.
The telco has won the rights to all 380 Premier League Games for three years commencing in August 2016, stripping Fox Sports of one of its marquee properties.
Optus has flagged a move into content but the decision to go after not just the broadband and mobile rights, but the live broadcast rights is a major acceleration of its strategy.
CEO Allen Lew said the acquisition of the rights, currently held by Fox Sports, would deliver one of the world’s most sought after sports properties to Optus Customers.
Do you think they will they on-sell it FoxSports? If Foxtel no longer has EPL, on the back of losing La Liga to BeIN, a lot of people will be cancelling their subscriptions.
Probably makes them a more desperate buyer as it relates to resolving the issue with the NRL.
Ben
This is the death nail for Fox. If the EPL is not broadcast via FOXTEL that’s curtains for the platform for many. Live Sport is the only thing that is stopping my switch to 100% streaming.
Does anyone have an opinion on what they will do with the broadcast rights?
I don’t see what use they are to Optus (no media platform of their own) other than being a nice way to make a profit from on-selling…
I only signed up to Foxtel because of Fox Sports and ESPN for BPL and UCL so now they don’t have either from 2016… I will cancel for sure…
The only things keeping me with Foxtel are EPL, Olympic coverage and F1 (Terrestrial coverage of the latter 2 is unwatchable).
But even then, I can’t possibly justify Foxtel without EPL. $134 per month? For what?
Oh, and the IQ3 is an abomination and how hasn’t there been a Class Action about it.
Not paying that much extra for Foxsports if no EPL… Forget it..
The only justification for my Foxtel subscription has been the EPL. I have Apple TV and Netflix so I will be cancelling my Foxtel subscription next year when this takes effect. Leaves me over $100 a month in front. The end is nigh for Foxtel…
getting harder & harder to rationalise Foxtel
I can’t see how this will result in a better outcome for EPL fans here… I want to watch football on TV, not a laptop or mobile device
Would imagine Optus will bundle it up with Fetch TV from a broadcast perspective.
+ some internet package.
One of the anchors why I purchase Foxtel , Fox please buy some games back from Optus ..I already don’t use your movies having switched to Netflix
So no EPL or UCL on the basic sports package? The ONLY rational thing I can see happening is that Fox Sports will start broadcasting more NBA! If they think that Fox Footy will keep them afloat I would be very surprised.
As for Optus, I hope they don’t resell it to bein sports for fox sports, bundle it with fetch tv! Strike a deal with bein to have bein as a basic channel, not an extra subscription channel and that should be enough to kill off Foxtel, at least on the football front
I’m with Darren. Why would anybody want to watch the EPL on an iPad? I record the games that are on in the middle of the night and then watch them on Sunday mornings on a 52″ TV. I don’t want to do this crowded around a tablet or computer screen
People are over playing the impact this will have on Foxtel’s subscriber base. If indeed they have zerop EPL games next year, yes they will lose some of their 2.8 million subscribers. One would assume they would have done the numbers and if the loss of subscribers is less than what they needed to pay for the rights it makes sense. They are hardly going to run the EPL at a massive loss just to keep it.
Considering the fairly good coverage on offer now (HD, numerous streams, ability to record), I would expect all of this and more from Optus too. Can’t see many EPL fans (our household included) being all too happy with this outcome.
@Danny It’s pretty easy to stream onto a TV.
Hi Easy and Danny,
To clarify they have the rights to broadcast them through the TV as well- Optus hasn’t clarified how that will happen yet but it looks likely it’ll be Fetch TV.
Cheers,
Alex – editor, Mumbrella
The real losers here are the fans.
The EPL have obviously grabbed the cash but haven’t really thought about the football fan experience and convenience of just being able to watch or IQ on Foxsports.
That’s it my foxtel is getting canned after this EPL season. Movies, Documentaries Tv Shows Netflix $8. Music I will get on the Playstation Vidzone for fee. So if Optus come in at about $21 a month which I think is what they will do they I’m still winning. Optus will sell some games to SBS from what I have heard so this is a fantastic deal.
… but Optus doesn’t have any TV stations.
Broadcast rights will be on-sold to broadcaster/s, streaming rights to an existing SVOD or a new one of their own. A tactic to head off Telstra TV. Will it be un-metered on their network and can their infrastructure cope with the extra load?
My prediction is that Optus will just keep the broadcast rights in their pocket so you have to choose one of their digital packages. Buying those rights seems more about denying them to others than actually using. I agree with the punters saying fans are the big losers here: I like watching live sport in HD on broadcast TV. When throwing a streamed video to your TV (over, say, Chromecast) there is a delay, which makes social media interaction and betting, if that’s your thing, impossible.
Foxtel is finished for me. The loss of the EPL was the final straw.
They are saying 50m a year. Must be a decent business case of how they are going to offset that ~4m per month cost for the rights.
I will be cancelling foxsports after this
Optus could put it on Freeview plus!… Haha just kidding.
Suspect we’ll see a subscription based app on the Google Play and Apple App Stores. Optus customers get packages. The predictable stuff as the NBA, MLB etc have done.
They could also give pubs a Sat dish and box to receive broadcasts from Optus B3
Either way, let’s all just bask in this spectacular failure by Foxtel and Fox Sports. Without a doubt it is really going to cost them dearly. But they needed a wake up call.
We are going down the road of the UK which is a horror show for fans wanting to watch footy.
The UK gov’t in it’s wisdom (which to be fair made some sense back then before we all foresaw the hugely rapid change in the media landscape) felt that removing SKY domination ownership of EPL would deliver more choice and better outcomes for fans. The opposite has occurred as SKY’s prices remained the same and fans now have to buy packages off 3 vendors not 1.
Fox Sports pricing in AUS will not drop – so if you want your AFL and other sports plus Premier League you are now going to be in a bigger financial outlay.
Unless Optus deliver an easy to understand, use and access package customers will continue to move to VPN’s and international offerings. Especially if the focus is web based modelling.
Big move
Still, the savvy operattors are on premierpass or such like
NRL and AFL bring the bulk of subs to fox sports. EPL fans are noisy but relatively few.
If you think Foxtel’s customer service is bad just wait till you have to deal with Optus…
I’m paying $100 a month (basically) for epl in HD, that’s ridiculous but I’m doing it and would have continued to do it despite losing champions league to bein sports, now I’m going to lose epl? Good bye Foxtel, come aug next year I’m done, you almost lost me with the champions league thing but now this is the straw that broke the camels back, I’m forced to go with Optus fetch TV and likely have to deal with crapy sd quality….
No EPL, UCL, Ashes, Cricket Australia or La Liga. Countless replays of old “footy games” plus let’s not forget the advertising that has crept into Foxtel. Goodbye Foxtel May 2016.
I am soon moving house to an area without cable so I am supposed to be getting a satellite fitted but will have to dump it and Foxtel if no EPL. Plus I can’t get Optus except through having their broadband. I don’t want to have to watch the EPL games streaming live in the middle of the night or on an iPad. I want to record and watch on the next day. Dreadful. How is this good for Aussie EPL fans like me?
NRL on free to air don’t watch it
AFL on free to air don’t watch it
Cricket on free to air don’t watch it
Surfing on foxtel excellent
EPL was on foxtel
UCL was on foxtel
I was on foxtel
Back to what Sbs can muster
Bye bye foxtel
Yes