Optus has won the bid for the exclusive Australian rights to the world’s most popular football league - Barclays Premier League - for three seasons, commencing in August 2016.
This includes live broadcast coverage and digital rights for broadband and mobile for all 380 Premier League games, every season.
Fox Sports 1 currently has the rights, but Foxtel wasn’t part of Optus' winning bid. A Fox Sports spokesperson was unavailable to comment.
On platform distribution questions, and Optus spokesperson told AdNews: “By broadcast rights we mean exclusive live broadcasts of all 380 games for the three season running from 2016/17 until 2018/19.
“Our goal is to make this content available to as many fans as possible – but we’re not going into to detail about distribution platforms at this stage.”
Suggesting the telco is still in discussions with TV networks?
Optus CEO Allen Lew said this is another significant step in its strategy to become a mobile-led multimedia company.
“We are dedicated to delivering the best domestic and international entertainment for our customers. With 930 million followers worldwide, the Premier League is one of the most sought after sports properties for content providers,” Lew said.
Today’s announcement is a great win for Optus and will ensure that Aussie football fans can watch all the action from the world’s most popular football league,” Mr Lew said.
Richard Scudamore, executive chairman at the Premier League said:“We are extremely pleased that Optus has chosen to invest in our broadcasting rights for the three seasons 2016/17 to 2018/19.
“They have an excellent track record as a multifaceted telecommunications company in Australia and we look forward to working with them to make all the best Premier League content available to our fans across the country.”
More to come.
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