Optus plans Premier League, World Cup football channel
Rebecca Hawkes
| 18 March 2016
Australia’s Optus is creating a 24/7 football channel for next season’s coverage of the English Premier League while sub-leasing a match per week to free-to-air broadcaster SBS.
Optus and SBS will also team up to provide comprehensive live coverage of the 2018 World Cup and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.
The Premier League channel will be carried on Optus’ IPTV platform, Optus TV with Fetch. There will be up to ten sub-channels so that Optus can show every game live to subscribers. SBS will carry one match each week and a replay within 72 hours.
An Optus EPL app will provide subscribers with access to the channel via smart devices, with unmetered mobile and fixed broadband streaming of live games. In addition, a website will feature live matches for subscribers, along with news and exclusive content.
The plans have been revealed after it was announced in November 2015 that Optus had out-bid Foxtel to win the rights to show the English Premier League on its IPTV service for three seasons beginning 2016-17.
“Through our partnerships with SBS and the English Premier League, Optus is completely reinventing how Australians engage with football. We are delighted to be collaborating with SBS to give Australians an unrivalled viewing experience, with the option to watch football on the platform and device of their choice,” said Allen Lew, CEO, Optus.
Come 2018, Optus will deliver subscribers every FIFA World Cup game across multiple TV and internet enabled devices, while SBS will cover one live game per day, four of the round of 16 games, two quarter-finals, both semi-finals and the final.
SBS managing director and CEO, Michael Ebeid, added: “International football is at the very heart of SBS and our purpose is to inspire understanding between our diverse multicultural communities.
“These innovative agreements disrupt the old models of TV delivery in Australia and also ensure SBS can responsibly invest in an ongoing commitment to providing fans with universal and free access to international football, in our rapidly changing media landscape.”
Full pricing of the Optus TV EPL service will be announced in the middle of the year.
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