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Stan Sport will broadcast both the English Premier League and the FA Cup until 2028 in a deal its parent company Nine has signed with telecommunications giant Optus.
The deal ends Optus’ nine-year association with the Premier League, one of the most popular sports leagues in the world. All 380 matches of the soccer competition are now set to stream live and on-demand on Stan Sport.
English Premier League fans will be moving to Stan Sport for the coming season.Credit: AP
Nine, through Stan, will pay Optus an upfront fee of $20 million and make an upfront contribution to the next $100 million instalment of the sports rights fees to the EPL, it told the ASX on Monday morning. Optus will then make periodic payments to Nine for the remainder of the rights deal to subsidise the streaming service’s fees to the sports body.
Last week, The Australian Financial Review reported that Optus will subsidise $40 million of the annual $100 million outlay for the soccer rights.
More than half of Optus Sport’s estimated 700,000 subscribers are not signed up to Stan Sport, the company determined through due diligence.
“This marks a step change in Nine’s digital growth strategy” said Matt Stanton, Nine’s chief executive.
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“The Premier League is the most-watched football league on the planet, and alongside the Emirates FA Cup, this acquisition reinforces Nine’s position as the home of sport in Australia. We are proud to deliver these iconic competitions to Australian audiences through Stan Sport.”
The deal also includes the rights to the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 championship, which starts this week on July 3, as well as the Japanese J-League and the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States.
The new acquisitions position Nine as a destination for football, already holding the rights to broadcast the UEFA Champions League, as well as all four tennis grand slam events and most rugby union action.
The deal also marks an end to Optus’ sports venture, with as many as 100 jobs uncertain as Nine is expected to draw on its existing tech and production staff to produce the Premier League’s additional coverage.
Nine also owns The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Nine expects the sports rights acquisition to increase Stan’s earnings and cash flow for the remainder of the media rights deal, it said in its statement to the ASX.
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