Optus scores UEFA broadcast rights following World Cup streaming fiasco

Optus has recovered from its World Cup 2018 streaming fiasco to score a three-year deal to broadcast various UEFA matches.

Goalkeeper Nenad Eric looks at the ball during UEFA Champions League, Second Qualifying Round between FC Midtjylland and FC Astana in Denmark. Picture: AP

Optus isn’t letting the World Cup 2018 streaming fiasco dampen its enthusiasm for exclusive soccer content, with the telco picking up Australian broadcast rights to the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup for the next three years.

The UEFA Champions League, which is the premier international soccer club competition in the world, is the latest addition to Optus’s growing portfolio of soccer content. It also reinforces Optus’s position as the one telco in the market looking to leverage its media assets to grow market share.

In May, the telco extended its exclusive deal to broadcast to English Premier League in Australia for another three years, with the telco to remain the only source of full coverage until 2022.

While the decision to sub-license World Cup 2018 from public broadcaster SBS to drive more consumers to sign up to the Optus Sports app may not have paid dividends for the telco, it’s still sticking with the script.

Optus’s World Cup coverage ran into trouble from almost the first whistle of the World Cup in last month, with streaming glitches rendering the Optus Sports app useless. The telco had to eventually agree to let SBS show all the World Cup for free.

Optus’s managing director, marketing and product Ben White said that the telco remains committed to delivering elite international football and exclusive content for customers.

“Adding these tournaments and elite football matches to Optus Sport provides our customers with more than double the live premium football content compared to this time last year,” he said.

Optus did not disclose the amount paid for the three-year broadcast deal. Under the agreement, Optus Sport will show every Championship League match live starting with the play-offs this month, followed by all group stage matches live, starting in September 2018 and continuing through until the final in 2019.

Optus Sport will also cover the UEFA Super Cup on August 16 (August 17 in Australia) between the winners of last season’s Europa League Atletico and the winners of the Champions League Real Madrid.