Premier League
The Financial Review reports that Optus Sport has been the EPL’s broadcast partner in Australia for nearly a decade. The deal is one of the most expensive in the country worth well over half a billion dollars over six years – fourth only to the AFL, NRL and cricket.
The global value of sports media rights has grown in the time Optus Sport has broadcast the EPL from $US43 billion ($67 million) to more than $US60 billion last year.
Nine Entertainment, which owns the Stan streaming platform, is expected to pay about $60 million annually for the next three years to broadcast the league, two people briefed on the arrangement said. Optus will continue to pay $40 million every year over that time, despite giving up the rights.
Under its new deal with Optus, Stan will expand its football offering to include the Premier League, the FA Cup, the K League, and J League.
The status of the Womens Susper League and UEFA championships is unknown – those deals end this year,
Mediaweek Notes that Stan Sport currently requires a $27 minimum monthly subscription. Based on that figure, it would need approximately 185,000 new subscribers to break even on the Premier League component of the deal alone, excluding production and operational costs.
A-league
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Nine will consider a bid for the A-League broadcast rights as it inches closer to a deal to acquire all English Premier League matches for the next three years, alongside a suite of other assets from Optus Sport.
NRL
Phil Rothfield reports that Channel 9 is poised to make an all-out multibillion-dollar bid to televise all nine games in an 18-team competition in the next NRL broadcast deal. The plan is to cover three games each week on free-to-air television and the other six on Stan’s pay-per-view platform along with the finals series and State of Origin.
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