Optus Sport spends $600m to retain Premier League rights until 2028

Optus Sport has sealed the biggest international sports rights acquisition in Australian history, spending approximately $600 million to retain the English Premier League for the next six years.

The telco has been the Australian home of the Premier League since 2016 but was at risk of losing the rights to several new streaming services that have launched in recent years. The new deal is estimated to be worth about $100 million a year, according to multiple industry sources, making it one of the most lucrative sports rights deals ever clinched in Australia.

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah during last month’s demolition of Manchester United at Old Trafford.Credit: Getty

Optus has also secured the rights to the FA Women’s Super League, where Matildas superstar Sam Kerr plays her club football for Chelsea, through to 2024.

Optus made the announcement on Friday morning, hours after the Premier League announced a six-year deal with NBC Sports in the United States worth a reported US$2.7 billion ($3.7b).

“We are thrilled to be able to significantly extend our exclusive partnership with Premier League and the FA Women’s Super League and continue to bring the best football coverage to more than a million of our passionate and loyal Optus Sport customers,” said Optus CEO, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin. The telco said it did not comment on its commercial arrangements.

Paul Molnar, the chief media officer at the Premier League, said it was pleased to extend the relationship until the 2027/28 season.

Sam Kerr’s exploits for Chelsea in the Women’s Super League will also remain on Optus.Credit: Getty

“Optus has proven to be an outstanding home for the Premier League in Australia and has helped to grow the fan base of the Premier League and its clubs through market-leading content and impressive innovation,” Mr Molnar said.

Optus’ deal ensures the survival of its sports streaming business, which was built around the Premier League rights and was facing an uncertain future had those rights gone elsewhere.

The EPL is considered the crown jewel of football rights and was the last major rights package available for streaming services in this market that will be able to drive subscriptions. Other sports such as the NRL, AFL, rugby, netball, A-League and Formula One have renegotiated their rights or moved to alternative services.

Australia’s streaming market has evolved rapidly since the creation of Optus Sport, and the telco now fights for broadcast deals against a range of services, such as Kayo Sports, Stan Sport, Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video. This competition raised concerns inside Optus that it may not be able to pay enough money to keep the rights to the EPL, according to people familiar with the matter.

Stan, which is owned by Nine Entertainment - the owner of this masthead - was hoping to secure the EPL after snatching the rights to the UEFA Champions League from Optus earlier this year. But sources familiar with its position, who spoke anonymously, said it did not end up submitting a bid because of an expectation the EPL would expect a premium on its current rights deal. Nine is in advanced talks about a $600 million five-year deal with the NRL.

Industry sources, familiar with the blind auction process, said Kayo Sports and Paramount+ were also involved in the tender. Paramount+ and parent company Network Ten have already agreed to tip in $300 million into the A-Leagues, Socceroos and Matildas over the next five years. Sources close to the deal said it came in second at the blind auction, which was run by the EPL this month.

The extension with Optus will put pressure on Paramount+, which only launched in August. It will broadcast its first A-League Mens match on Friday night, but is left needing another major football or entertainment acquisition to support their ambitions of becoming one of Australia’s most popular streaming services.

There was some talk in the media industry that Optus may move away from its sport strategy altogether as negotiations for the rights to the EPL began to heat up and executives - such as director of sport Richard Bayliss - moved onto new opportunities.

But Optus sources said it was always determined to secure an extension. A sign of that ambition could be seen when it broadcast the Euro 2020 tournament earlier this year and nabbed the domestic broadcast rights to the 2023 Women’s World Cup, to be played in Australia and New Zealand. The broadcast rights are valuable to Optus as it is key to their mobile customer strategy. It increases the telco’s average revenue per user, allows it to chase new customers, and minimises churn of existing customers. The telco said on Friday it now has more than 1 million subscribers.

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