TELEVISION BROADCASTING OF SPORTS – AUSTRALIA

Nine buys Premier League rights in Australia as Optus Sport shuts down

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Original article by Martin Pegan
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 1-Jul-25

Nine Entertainment has struck a deal to acquire the sports broadcasting rights that are currently held by telco Optus. They include the English Premier League, the FA Cup and the National Women’s Soccer League, which will all shift from Optus Sport to Stan Sport. The deal is said to be worth about $300m in total, and Optus is believed to have agreed to contribute about $40m to the estimated annual cost of $100m per annum for the final three years of its broadcasting rights deal for EPL matches. The Optus Sport platform was launched in 2006, but it will be shut down at the end of July; this will allow Optus to focus on its core business.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, STAN SPORT, OPTUS SPORT, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE, FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, NATIONAL WOMEN’S SOCCER LEAGUE

Piastri factor puts heat on Formula 1 TV rights race

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Original article by Calum Jaspan
The Age – Page: Online : 8-May-25

Nine Entertainment’s CEO Matt Stanton says the media group is interested in securing the broadcasting rights for Formula 1 racing. Foxtel currently holds exclusive rights to all F1 races except the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, which is also televised by the Ten Network under the nation’s anti-siphoning laws for major sports events. Foxtel is believed to be in the final year of its current three-year rights deal, and F1 would be a good fit for Nine’s Stan Sport streaming platform. The success of Australian driver Oscar Piastri so far in the current F1 is likely to have boosted local interest in the sport.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, STAN SPORT

AFL fans expected to fork out as Saturday live coverage goes behind paywall in 2025

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Original article by Jack Snape
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 19-Feb-25

Foxtel and its Kayo Sports streaming service will have exclusive live broadcasts of AFL matches on Saturdays in Victoria and Tasmania during the 2025 season. The live and exclusive coverage will also apply to the first eight rounds of the home-and-away season in other states, under the new $4.5bn broadcasting rights deal between the AFL, Foxtel and the Seven Network that began this year. Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany is confident that fans will be willing to pay to watch live coverage of AFL matches.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, KAYO SPORTS, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Optus may sell sports streaming to Nine

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 21-Jan-25

Sources have indicated that Optus has sought expressions of interest from potential buyers of its sports streaming platform. Amongst other things, Optus Sport holds the Australian broadcasting rights to the English Premier League and the Women’s Super League. The potential buyers that Optus has approached are said to include Nine Entertainment, which owns the rival Stan Sport streaming service. Optus is believed to be keen to focus on its core telecommunications business amid growing competition in the streaming sector and the rising cost of broadcasting rights.

CORPORATES
SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, OPTUS SPORT, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, STAN SPORT

A numbers game: how NRL can claim it’s the most watched sport

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 8-Oct-24

Data from OzTAM shows that the NRL Grand Final on Sunday attracted a national television audience of 3.4 million. The AFL Grand Final a week earlier was watched by 4.06 million people. However, the NRL’s premiership showdown was viewed by 762,000 people via the Nine Network’s free 9Now streaming platform, compared with a streaming audience of 654,000 for the AFL season decider via the rival 7plus app. NRL CEO Andrew Abdo contends that rugby league has a larger TV audience than any other sports code in Australia. The NRL will soon begin to negotiate a new broadcasting rights deal beyond 2027.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, 9NOW, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, 7PLUS, OZTAM PTY LTD

Matildas, Socceroos to remain on Network 10 for next five years

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Original article by Vince Rugari, Calum Jaspan
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 28-Aug-24

Ten Network president Beverley McGarvey says soccer fans will still be able to enjoy many matches featuring the Socceroos and the Matildas on free-to-air TV under a new five-year broadcasting rights deal with Football Australia. The new rights deal includes the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup and the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, as well as the Socceroos’ qualifiers for the 2026 Men’s World Cup; some matches will be shown exclusively on the Paramount+ streaming service. SBS holds the local broadcasting rights for the 2026 Men’s World Cup.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, PARAMOUNT GLOBAL, PARAMOUNT+, FOOTBALL AUSTRALIA

Free TV networks push for anti-siphoning laws to include streaming services

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Original article by Parker McKenzie
The New Daily – Page: Online : 14-May-24

Australia’s free-to-air networks have joined forces to launch the ‘Free for Everyone’ advertising campaign. The networks are urging the federal government to update the nation’s anti-siphoning laws to specifically include streaming services. They argue that the existing laws only guarantee that major sporting events are broadcast on linear TV rather than the streaming platforms of FTA networks, and at present there is nothing to prevent companies such as Netflix from buying the exclusive digital broadcasting rights to flagship events. The networks note that many consumers now watch broadcast TV via the internet rather than using a traditional aerial.

CORPORATES
NETFLIX INCORPORATED

Tabcorp to pay $35m-$40m for Melbourne Cup broadcast rights in new deal

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian – Page: 17 : 21-Feb-24

Tabcorp will sub-licence the free-to-air broadcasting rights to the Melbourne Cup to Nine Entertainment Company. Tabcorp has finalised a six-year deal with the Victoria Racing Club for exclusive broadcasting rights for the Melbourne Cup Carnival, at a cost of between $35m and $40m a year. Tabcorp was required to secure a sub-licensing deal with a free-to-air network to comply with the anti-siphoning laws for major sporting events; the Melbourne Cup will also be broadcast on Tacorp’s Sky Channel service. Nine’s deal with Tabcorp will commence with the 2024 Melbourne Cup Carnival; the rights were previously held by the Ten Network.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, SKY CHANNEL, VICTORIA RACING CLUB LIMITED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

Amazon snaps up key cricket rights

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 5-Dec-23

Amazon Prime Video has secured an exclusive deal with the International Cricket Council. The deal includes the Australian broadcasting rights for the Cricket World Cup, the T20 World Cup and the World Test Championship Final until 2027. Data from OzTAM shows that the Nine Network’s recent coverage of the 2023 Men’s World Cup final in India was watched by more than 1.6 million people nationwide; the final also attracted record viewer numbers on Foxtel and its Kayo Sports streaming service. World Cup and Championship matches are not subject to the anti-siphoning list unless they are played in Australia or New Zealand.

CORPORATES
AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, INTERNATIONAL CRICKET COUNCIL, OZTAM PTY LTD, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, KAYO SPORTS

Seven kicks a goal with Matildas’ Cup victory

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 9-Aug-23

The FIFA Women’s Wold Cup continues to be a ratings boon for the Seven Network. Data from OzTAM shows that Seven’s broadcast of the Matildas’ win against Denmark on Monday night attracted 3.248 million viewers nationwide, plus an additional 385,000 via its 7plus streaming platform. The Matildas’ 2-0 win to advance to the quarter-finals has become the most-watched program in Australia so far in 2023; the recent must-win match against Canada boasted an average audience of 2.42 million viewers. Seven has the free-to-air rights to 15 World Cup matches, with Optus Sport holding the rights to all 64 matches in the tournament.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, 7PLUS, FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION, MATILDAS, OPTUS SPORT