Optus has reignited the pay-TV wars of the '90s by "snatching the English Premier League broadcasting rights from News Corp’s Fox Sports," according to Darren Davidson of THE AUSTRALIAN. Premier League football regularly delivers "shock results but none so amazing, perhaps, as the sale of live broadcast and digital rights for all 380 games across three seasons" in a A$60M ($42.8M) deal -- a 140% increase on the value of the previous agreement. It is understood the bid was "significantly higher" than rival offers lodged by Fox Sports and Qatar-owned beIN Sports. Optus CEO Allen Lew said that the agreement marked a “major pillar in our content strategy” as it gives the brand a way to "differentiate its broadband plans in the increasingly competitive telco market against Telstra and TPG Telecom." The deal is another example of "escalating competition in the battle for broadband and mobile customers in Australia." Lew "refused to rule out" on-selling the EPL TV rights to Fox Sports or a free-to-air network. He also "refused to be drawn on whether he was plotting to take over from Telstra the NRL’s mobile streaming rights." Lew: “We’re looking at other sports, and genres of content make sense for us. We have to look at it very carefully. The key is not just about sport for us -- we are all about content and engagement" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 11/3). In Sydney, Claire Siracusa wrote it is a "huge blow for the current rights holders Fox Sports, and rich Qatar-owned broadcaster BeIN Sports, who both reportedly submitted competing bids." Fox Sports, which is part-owned by Optus' telco rival Telstra, said that it was "disappointed" to lose the rights as the league's foundation broadcast partner in Australia. The deal is expected to have "wider implications for broadcast sport in Australia," with the EPL a "central part of Foxtel's strategy of targeting sports-mad subscribers." It is unclear how the public will access the content at this stage, with no specific details on "product constructs or pricing at this stage." A spokesperson for Optus said, "Our goal is to make this content available to as many fans as possible -- but we're not going into detail about distribution platforms at this stage" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 11/2).
GOLDEN GOAL: In Sydney, David Ramli opined Australians are "a sports-mad people" that have never been raised with football in mind. But by June '14 about 28% of people living in Australia "were born overseas and as we become increasingly globalised so too has our taste in sports." So the reason why Fox Sports and its half-owner Telstra "will be hurting after Optus snatched the English Premier League Australian broadcast rights is bigger than bragging rights among the telco or TV giants." It is about "two key truths we encounter as a nation; the face of Australia is rapidly changing and the various ways we consume our content will gradually shrink to one." The EPL is "popular among several demographics," from English or Indian ex-pat workers to Chinese students and locals who have lived or traveled abroad. And now, just as Foxtel "battles streaming providers such as Netflix to convince customers to keep paying a hefty premium, a global sport with a growing audience has slipped from its grasp." Optus will "struggle to reap the profits from this service alone because there simply aren't enough fans here yet." But the deal must be "seen in a holistic sense." Each mobile or broadband customer comes with a "net present value worth thousands of dollars, and gaining market share is vital" (SMH, 11/2).
NEW BATTLEGROUND: Also in Sydney, Elizabeth Knight wrote it is "game on between Optus and Telstra, with content shaping as the new battleground." Optus has been "fairly noisy during the past couple of years about getting itself some exclusive content that will give it a leg up against larger rival Telstra." In the mobile stakes the "aim is to get value-added bells and whistles that differentiate one provider over another." Telstra has "long been the leader in this game and has been a consistent bidder for digital rights for big sports events." But Optus has "staked its ambition to get into the game and this is the biggest play it has made to date." Foxtel and Fox Sports "have been left behind in the battle" for EPL in the same way they were "recently caught flat-footed in negotiations" over the National Rugby League. However, "the referee's whistle has not yet been blown on the NRL contest so how it plays out remains to be seen." There is talk that Optus has also "expressed an interest in the NRL mobile streaming rights and is considered a potential bidder for the pay-TV rights currently held by Fox Sports." According to Citi analyst Justin Diddams, the EPL deal "is another big uplift for premium sports, although it's unclear how the rights get monetized (if at all) ... reminding investors of the competitive tensions building in the telcom segment more broadly" (SMH, 11/2). In London, Marc C-Scott wrote much of the discussion about the Optus EPL deal "has been on who will broadcast the games, given Optus is not a traditional broadcaster." There "are a few options Optus could take" to utilize the EPL media rights. A deal to on-sell them to Foxtel is "extremely unlikely." There are "other options that Optus could establish, which would see them in a position to compete with Foxtel, in particular Fox Sports" (GUARDIAN, 11/2).
