Optus and the Australian Olympic Committee announced a 10-year agreement that sees Optus become the official telecom partner of the Australian Olympic team.
The deal is one of the AOC’s biggest ever national sponsorship deals and will run until '26.
The Optus sponsorship includes the summer teams for Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and the yet to be determined host city for '24. It also covers the winter teams for PyeongChang 2018, Beijing 2022 and the yet to be determined host city for '26. The Australian team will be one of the biggest at Rio 2016 with an expected 450 athletes. The multi-year agreement gives Optus access to a comprehensive sponsorship program which includes the partner recognition program, Olympic themed promotions, branded merchandise, VIP events, Olympic Games tickets and hospitality, and licensed product opportunities (AOC). ZDNET's Corinne Reichert wrote Optus "has been focusing on sports media offerings of late, most notably acquiring the exclusive rights" to broadcast the EPL, taking the most-watched football league worldwide away from pay-TV provider Foxtel for an unknown amount.
Optus CEO Allen Lew said that it "confirms Optus' commitment to providing streaming and media content." Lew: "This is another significant step in our strategy to become a mobile-led multimedia company." Optus "declined to say whether the Premier League content would be provided on Fetch TV, or to clarify the subscription cost" (ZDNET, 12/16).
