SBS and Tabcorp finalising FIFA World Cup broadcast tie-up

SBS is finalising a multimillion-dollar deal with Tabcorp that will allow the wagering giant to broadcast the FIFA World Cup at its TAB outlets and on its betting app.

France’s players celebrate after winning the 2018 World Cup final in Moscow. Picture: AFP

SBS is finalising a multimillion-dollar deal with Tabcorp that will allow the wagering giant to broadcast the FIFA World Cup at its TAB outlets and on its betting app.

The agreement, expected to be announced later this week, comes as the broadcaster finalises arrangements for the globe’s premier football competition, which begins in Qatar on November 20.

SBS, unveiling its 2023 line-up earlier this month, said it had sold out for the sponsorship of the World Cup but did not name the companies advertising.

The Australian can reveal Tabcorp is among seven brands that have secured sponsorship for the event alongside McDonald’s, Qatar Tourism, Colonial First State, Hisense, Hyundai and Kia.

The broadcaster’s director of media sales, Adam Sadler, said on Sunday that SBS was a “premium, high-value, low ad load environment”.

“In the interest of providing the best audience and advertiser experience, we have chosen to have only one sponsor for each advertising category for the 2022 World Cup,” Mr Sadler said, noting Hyundai and Kia were both owned by the same parent company.

Broadcast sponsors in 2018, when the tournament was in Russia, included Adidas, Tabcorp, Hyundai, Hisense and Mitre 10. In 2016, when the event was in Brazil, SBS secured sponsorship from Nike, Samsung, TPG Telecom, Hyundai and Kia and Tabcorp, with those packages being sold for around $3.75m.

The sub-licensing deal with Tabcorp is through the company’s Sky Racing subsidiary, allowing customers to watch full games on the mobile app and in venues.

Both Tabcorp and its corporate bookmaking rivals including Entain have been moving to bolster live game offerings alongside their wagering apps.

Tabcorp declined to comment.

Earlier this year, Entain, the London-listed global giant that owns Ladbrokes and Neds, launched online local channels to stream horse and greyhound racing. In July, the Sydney Morning Herald reported the division was to be led by Andy Hoad and would produce written content and documentaries.

The channels, streaming through Ladbrokes and Neds betting apps, include racing content from Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and New Zealand.

SBS clinched a deal with FIFA in 2011 to extend an existing broadcast contract for the World Cup – which it has shown since 1990 – until 2022.

At the time, it was reported the broadcaster would pay $20m for the tournament in 2018 and another $20m for the Qatar event this year, up from $30m for the previous four tournaments combined.

In 2018, SBS on-sold much of the contract to Optus, which had aggressively expanded into football after snapping up the English Premier League rights.

In the wake of a significant backlash when the Optus service failed to work, SBS ended up showing all the games.

This year, Optus is not involved in the broadcast.

However, Optus did secure the rights to the 2023 Women’s World Cup, which is being held in Australia and New Zealand, although it has subsequently on-sold some of those rights to Seven West Media.

The Socceroos beat Peru to qualify for the World Cup in June, a game that was instead broadcast on Network Ten after its owner, Paramount, paid $100m in 2021 to secure broadcast rights for all Socceroos and Matildas internationals, as well as Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers. Those rights were previously held by Fox Sports.

Network Ten also used live soccer to launch the Paramount+ streaming service in Australia, with the US-owned television business clinching a five-year $200m deal for A-League and W-League rights.

While the $40m per season deal is considered above some expectations given the A-League’s slumping ratings and the state of the industry, the annual cash component of about $32m was below the projections the league is using to pitch for more than $100m in potential investment from private equity sources.