In just over six months a new English Premier League campaign kicks off. So why hasn’t Optus announced its broadcast plans yet?
Last November’s announcement that telecommunications provider Optus had secured the exclusive Australian broadcast rights to the EPL for the next three seasons was a huge surprise to many.
With pay TV network Fox Sports the long-term home of English top-flight football on Australian screens, news that the current EPL season will be Fox’s last came as a shock.
Fox currently broadcasts up to ten EPL games live and in high definition each week, with simultaneous kick-offs available on demand.
That will no longer be the case next season, after Optus outbid both Fox and Qatar-based broadcaster beIN Sports in a deal reportedly worth upwards of $50 million.
One well-placed source told me that while Fox suspected it might lose the EPL rights, the network expected to relinquish them to beIN Sports.
When news broke that Fox would lose its 18-year-stranglehold on the EPL, some fans on social media predicted it would drive down costs for Australian consumers. I’m not so sure.
What is certain is that Optus’ failure to deliver anything other than a cursory media release is not a good start.
A fortnight after the announcement, the Australian Financial Review’s Paul Smith wrote a detailed analysis of what Optus must do to avoid alienating fans.
Putting aside questions of what the actual broadcasts will look like, so far the telecommunications provider has failed to provide any insight whatsoever around almost all of Smith’s key points.
Add to that the online rumours that some Optus staff were talking about running advertising during the ‘EPL finals’ and you get the sneaking suspicion they don’t necessarily know what they’re doing.
Of course, Optus nabbing the EPL rights could still turn out to be a positive thing.
It’s almost certain the matches will be screened via IPTV service Fetch TV, while Optus’ mobile phone and internet users will presumably enjoy complimentary access to EPL broadcasts.
Meanwhile, Optus chief executive Allen Lew has insisted the company’s infrastructure will be upgraded to broadcast multiple games in high definition over high-speed internet connections.
Given that Optus has already signed a streaming deal with Cricket Australia and Lew himself long ago cited his plan to aggressively bid for content, it’s unlikely the EPL rights will be the last major addition to the sporting stable.
The problem for Optus is that it has just wrested control of a television product that is already expertly broadcast.
Will Optus offer pre and post-game analyses from former Premier League winners like Mark Bosnich and Robbie Slater? Will highlights be readily available on TV and online?
Watch beIN Sports’ live Serie A game on a Monday morning, for example, and you’ll find your analysis comes from British broadcaster Andy Kerr’s Sunday Night Live panel show.
It’s serviceable-enough viewing, but it has nothing to do with Australia or the way we watch our football.
Ironically, it was News Corp chairman Robert Thomson who labelled Australian EPL fans “insomniacs” in the wake of Fox losing the rights to a product screened in the early hours.
As it stands, the A-League generally out-rates the EPL – although there should also be some serious questions asked about how the OzTAM ratings are produced.
Ultimately, Fox’s loss could well be our communal gain, with Optus driving down pay TV prices and offering a superior broadcast experience.
However, their silence so far is damning. If Optus genuinely expects EPL fans to switch telco providers, they’ve already left their run alarmingly late.
More likely is that Optus nabbing the EPL rights will only add to fans’ costs, particularly if they choose to share it exclusively with Optus customers.
And an expensively-acquired broadcast product could ironically be what drives us all back to illegal streams.
Mark
Guest
As long as i can get it without having the stream it over the internet - if you don't have the NBN its pointless
EastsFootyFan
Roar Guru
Pretty simple really - it's great for the poms; they get more cash. Not so great for soccer in Australia though, as it has the potential to fracture the audience if people are forced to choose between Fox and Optus if they can't have both (which inevitably will be the case with many). In short, the A-League need to sell their rights to Optus next, otherwise their ratings will tumble further.
FIUL
Guest
This is Friday afternoon web-clicking research - so it may have holes. Happy to be corrected by any New Zealander who has better info. EPL broadcasts in New Zealand 1) Sky TV (think it was formerly owned by Murdoch/News Corp, but they've now sold out) used to broadcast EPL. 2) A couple of yrs ago, Coliseum Sports Media purchased the broadcast rights. Some thought the world would end, but it doesn't look like it has (NZL residents can correct me) 3) Coliseum Sports Media offers EPL packages to watch every match live or on demand, magazine shows, highlights, streamed on any internet-enabled device, HD Prices are a) Season pass: NZ$99 (or NZ$19.90 per month) b) Weekly pass: NZ$19.90 (1 NZD = about 93 Aussie cents) Seems reasonable to me. Imagine if Optus were to provide the same package in AUS for A$100. Can't see why it wouldn't - the customer market for EPL would be bigger in AUS than NZL. Now, further imagine if a telco (Optus, other) were to provide HAL for A$100 per season. If you're a football fan - rather pay $200/yr for EPL & HAL than $1k (or more) for Foxtel. For the amount of EPL I watch, I'd be buying just the HAL package. PS: Can't believe anyone expects Optus to provide details about a product that it won't be offering to customers for another 6 months.
blah
Guest
i must apologise for not having your esteemed profile in the australian football community, tuckerman. ours? whose that : you, rupert and robbie slater, the australian football intelligentsia? maybe we should throw jesse fink in there as well. he's a good mate of yours. apparently he believes in ufos.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
You can smell whatever you like. The fact is you're an anonymous critic with nothing insightful to add, who can't understand why a telecommunications company expecting paying customers to switch providers within a six month period is concerning. But that's your problem, not ours.
blah
Guest
i smell a rat. i don't understand, after we have pretty much had a monopoly by fox since pay tv began why a so-called journalist would write a doomsday article about a competitor who hasn't even had a chance to show what they can provide yet. To top it off this is apparently the basis of tuckerman's criticism, that they haven't released anything yet. i was of the understanding the next epl season doesn't begin for another 6 months. Enjoy robbie slater's insight into the modern game why you can...
My2cents
Guest
I'm pretty sure anyone with access to an Internet connection has been able to follow along with overseas sports for almost 20 years. And watch illegal broadcasts for close to a decade. Foxtel and other pay TV providers exist to create a premium viewing experience. And charge consumers accordingly. Unfortunately Foxtel has been more interested in doing the bare minimum while monopolising isolating the local market through government regulation and exclusive rights deals as opposed to creating compelling viewing experience with original content, (like the A league) If you think 50 dollars a month is fair value for foxsports. You are obviously entitled to that opinion. However the adoption rate of pay. TV in Australia is such that. The majority of Australians don't believe it is a compelling enough product for that price point.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
This is the same Optus that abruptly pulled their funding of Football Federation Australia's digital assets in 2013? I think I'm well within my right to remain sceptical of their intentions.
blah
Guest
exactly, it seems rupert tuckerman has his mind made up already though...
Bob Brown
Roar Guru
What about the 30% of Australians, like myself, who have been loyal Optus customers for many years. I'd love them to package the EPL games in my next renewal. Of course you don't need to be an Optus customer, but what's wrong with them trying to recoup some of their huge outlay by attracting new customers. Optus have been great supporters of football in this country for many years and are one of the FFA's biggest sponsors. The other mob is just helping Rugby League and AFL players drink more beer and do silly things with dogs. :)
FIUL
Guest
"It’s acquiring the Australian EPL rights for prestige and to shore up the rights in more lucrative Asian markets" I don't understand what this means. How does buying TV rights in AUS impact deals in other markets? The EPL had a tender for the right to broadcast EPL in Australia for 3 seasons commencing 2016/17. FoxSports put in a bid. Optus put in a bid. Perhaps other broadcasters (telcos, FTA TV, paytv) put in bids. We don't know. Optus won the rights because it put in the highest bid. FoxSports had a strong relationship with the EPL, but it counted for nought - the tender is won by dollars; not relationships. After speaking to an Executive from World Sports Group whose job it is to sell sports TV rights, he said the whole industry was blown away by the deal. 1) No one expected Optus to bid 2) No one expected Optus to pay such a high fee As an broker & owner of sporting content broadcast rights, this executive said it confirms that Telcos in Australia are serious about broadcasting live sport. In Europe, telcos are major players for LIVE football broadcasting (eg BT in UK, Telefónica in Spain)
albatross
Roar Pro
>> I worry that Optus is engaged in similar behaviour to BeIN Sports. It’s acquiring the Australian EPL rights for prestige and to shore up the rights in more lucrative Asian markets, rather than because it makes any commercial sense based on the domestic market for EPL. Once the purchase of Australian EPL rights is completely separated from the actual Australian market for the EPL, and there is no need for a rights holder to turn a profit in the Australian market, we will be stuck with overpriced, second-rate services on a take it or leave it basis The high price Optus paid seemed to me at the time to be a way of offshoring profits by minimising the profits made in Aus whilst as you say shoring up Singtel's relationship with the FA/EPL to protect the lucrative Asian markets.
albatross
Roar Pro
>>If I was watching AFL in London I wouldn’t want some English pundit interpreting it for me either. Well the thing is you do need a local to do some colour at least because there would be nuances that would be lost on the "foreign" audience that would be "known knowns" and givens to Australian audiences. An English audience would need explanations as to why, for example, grown men are chasing around like 8 year olds playing rugby and why you get a point for a miss.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
Thanks for the contribution. I can categorically confirm that I don't work for Fox Sports.
blah
Guest
whose your source, rupert murdoch?
blah
Guest
really? everything this tuckerman hack is saying is baseless. i wouldn't be surprised if he works for fox.
nordster
Guest
"troll" is the new catch all for anything u dont like ...most mis/overused term of teh interwebz age ...
Mark
Guest
Sadly, you can never defeat the trolls.
nordster
Guest
Well ian maybe they will pick up a game who knows. They did enjoy the numbers from those pre season tours. One thing may follow the other....
nordster
Guest
I used to be the same Neil until i got bored with this tired, stale, closed league. Give it time u could end up like me, perish the thought!