Optus Sport's coverage of the English Premier League and 2018 FIFA World Cup will be beamed at 4,500 pubs, hotels and TAB agencies around Australia after securing a deal with Tabcorp.
It is the first time Optus will show its football content outside of its own network and a vital step in commercialising the $60 million per season rights to the world's most popular football league.
The deal allows venues that subscribe to Sky Racing to feature Optus Sport 1, the dedicated Premier League channel, via their Sky Racing boxes. There will be an option to show a second live game when multiple games are played at the same time.
Live Premier League football and next year's World Cup in Russia is a big draw for many punters. At present, the only way to receive it is with an Optus Sport subscription via its app, a Fetch TV box or a satelite dish.
This allows fans without Optus Sport the chance to watch their favourite EPL teams at local venues and should provide a boost to pubs on big match days.
The exact details of the deal have not been disclosed but it is a different model to how EPL football is commercialised in pubs in the UK.
In this market, BSkyB will charge venues for a pub subscription that typically costs between £15,000 and £20,000 per season, making it a major source of revenue for the pay TV broadcaster. The competition's other broadcaster, BT, also charges pubs separately to households across the UK.
Tabcorp chief executive and managing director David Attenborough says broadcasting football would provide additional benefits to venue partners.
“Outside of the three codes of racing, soccer is consistently one of the most popular sports with Tabcorp customers and the Premier League is the most popular soccer competition.”
Optus Business managing director John Paitaridis adds: “This new agreement represents a significant step for Optus in expanding and broadening our relationship with Tabcorp with new infrastructure and media services.”
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