The Geelong-Hawthorn match had more than 82,000 streaming viewers at one point.GETTY IMAGES
Telstra "quietly broke an internal record this month" for the most mobile devices streaming sport on its apps in a single weekend, with 1.2 million individual devices streaming National Rugby League, Australian Football League and netball through the sports' apps, according to Jennifer Duke of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. At one point on the weekend of Aug. 10-11, 82,120 viewers concurrently streamed the Hawthorn vs. Geelong AFL match. Across all the sports apps, the highest number of concurrent viewers to date is 109,000. Telstra allows customers to stream the three sports data-free through Live Pass apps on the mobile network as part of a partnership the telecom has with the sporting codes. In the past season, there has been a 58% "jump in customers streaming games," with 40 million minutes of live content streamed over its apps in an average weekend. Over the year, Live Pass subscribers increased 92% to 2.3 million people. For NRL, there have been 377 million minutes streamed through Round 21, with 49 million plays. Telstra recently "made a move" into football, obtaining five years of digital rights to Football Federation Australia games from its joint-venture with News Corp., Foxtel and Fox Sports, and has had its other sports rights for about two years (SMH, 8/22).
