Optus Sport

History

In the beginning of Optus Television, Optus had used sports rights as a key differentiator between it and rival Foxtel. They carried C7 Sport on their subscription television network until March 2002, when Optus replaced them with Fox Sports (Australia), rebranded as 'Optus Sports' until October of that year. In 2009 Optus Television ceased to be offered to new subscribers and the service was eventually ceased.

In July 2010, Malaysian backed Fetch TV launched in Australia, available through Optus. In 2015, new CEO Allen Lew, who had launched parent company Singtel's EPL coverage, laid out a three-year plan (2016-18) for Optus to transition from a Telecommunications provider to a multimedia company, as a 'content aggregator'.

Optus began trialling their own content delivery network in March 2015, and in November 2015 it was announced Optus had purchased the rights for the Premier League in Australia until the conclusion of the 2018/19 season. In March 2016 it was announced the channels would be available through Fetch TV from Optus (rebranded as 'Yes TV'), as well as through a dedicated app and website, with satellite coverage available for those without appropriate internet speeds or for commercial venues. This announcement also included the fact that one match per round would be sub-licensed to a Free-to-Air channel. It was revealed by SBS that they had traded their FIFA World Cup licence for this sub-licence.

Optus announced pricing for the EPL coverage in May, which was revised after being poorly received by customers, with new pricing, including a period of 'free' coverage, announced in June.

Optus also announced they had done a deal with the Nine Network to share the International Champions Cup rights, with Optus showing all games played outside of Australia. Nine would share the China leg and retain exclusive rights to the Australian matches. This was the first live sport broadcast on the channels, with Manchester United playing Borussia Dortmund in Shanghai on 22 July 2016 as the first live event. Optus also added a friendly West Ham United pre-season match, and would later show their unsuccessful Europa League Qualifier against Astra Giurgiu.

Controversy

The news that Optus had secured the Premier League rights was not received well by die-hard supporters. Most were locked in to existing plans with either Foxtel or other telecommunications providers, and were sceptical of how Australia's poor network infrastructure could handle 'live' broadcasts over IPTV. The first three rounds were mired with complaints on social media and in other media outlets.

Many fans were also unhappy that government broadcaster SBS had traded away their rights to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, however they had maintained all Australian matches and one 'side' of the knockout tournament.

Foxtel Response

Incumbent rights holder Fox Sports (Australia) reacted quickly to the news they had lost the rights, removing the $15/month add-on BeIN Sports pack, and adding the channels to the existing Sports package. Club TV channels for Chelsea FC, Liverpool FC and Manchester United were also added, as were agreements to show Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur games on delay.

Foxtel claimed Optus had threatened legal action over the new 'free' channels, and so added a 1c per channel per year charge to each.

Growth

Optus began to gradually add regional football competitions featuring Australian national teams, the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup and the 2016 AFF U-19 Youth Championship. They also screened the semi finals and final of the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

In October 2016, Optus Sport 2 began broadcasting ads with the tagline: 'This summer is going to be big', announcing the launch of a 24/7 Cricket channel on the channel for November 1 2016, running until 28 February 2017. This is an extension of the existing Optus agreement with Cricket Australia that sees all Optus customers eligible for a Cricket Australia Live Pass. The channel shows highlights and full match replays from ongoing matches, and original content such as '#Stumps', which had previously been available on the defunct Optus Cricket app. It also shows classic matches from the Cricket Australia archives.

Live content is available by linking the Optus Sport mobile app with the Cricket Australia App, and no live content is available on the linear Optus Sport 2 channel.

Channels and content

Optus Sport operates ten multiplex channels:

International Competitions

Club Leagues

Live

Highlights/Delay