Optus have announced they will give up exclusive rights to the remainder of the FIFA World Cup, with SBS set to broadcast every match across the knockout stages.
While the original deal struck between the two networks and FIFA saw SBS only broadcasting 25 matches across the entire tournament, Optus have been unable to get their stream working well enough. It saw them bring SBS on to simulcast every match until the end of the group stage on June 20.
SBS, who were set to broadcast four round of 16 matches and two quarter-finals, will now come on board to do every remaining match for the tournament.
Optus CEO Allan Lew said his company were trying to provide choice for frustrated viewers, who took to social media in droves over the opening weekend of the tournament to denounce their coverage.
“We had technical issues with the Optus Sport service over the first weekend of the tournament but we are confident that these issues have now been addressed. All of us at Optus will use what we have learned from this experience to place ourselves ahead in the delivery of content to customers via streaming to their mobile devices,” Mr Lew said.
“Our customers and viewers have been the priority in our decision making and that’s why we have provided several ways to watch the matches, offered refunds and introduced a range of measures to address the technical issues experienced by some Optus Sport viewers.”
Optus have begun offering refunds to customers who paid for their $15 per month subscription fees in the past few days, while the company have also made Optus Sport free to the Australian public until August 31.
The final group games will be played this evening, with the round of 16 starting on Sunday at 12am (AEST).
mattq
Guest
agree me too. and the mini matches are awesome. the world cup has really taken its toll on me this year, not sure if age related or what. so it's been nice to have a couple of good nights sleep and smash out a few mini matches before work in the morning. a nights rest tonight and then the sleep deprivation starts again.
me too
Guest
As one of those affected I'm actually satisfied with what Optus has done in reaction to this. A large difference to the slow inaction i have experienced with both iinet and optus as my nbn provider. My ipad died literally a few days before the world cup began, so i dragged out an old ipad only updateable to an old ios. To my surprise the Optus app supported it so i paid my money. Could not last a minute without losing sound or video. On my sons android not a problem, nor with his new mini ipad running the sbs app. Since the day they gave coverage to SBS my own app has worked pretty well. And now i have the best of both worlds - SBS live, then able to watch mini matches on optus in the morning before heading to work. or the whole game on demand when i return. Optus has already refunded my money as well. So yes, a disaster for Optus, but from my perspective they've at least responded in the best way possible. I would be very happy to pay if a similar arrangement was set next time - sbs and optus sharing all matches.
TheVolley
Guest
Looks like Optus failed to qualify for knockout rounds.
The Phantom Commissioner
Roar Rookie
From what i can gather the coverage and whatnot is great, all for nothing though really if people can't watch it without issues.
sam
Guest
Optus has set back streaming in Australia back 10 years...................... the FTA's will be popping the champagne corks with glee!!
anon
Roar Pro
What gets me with Foster and the vitriol he's indirectly heaping on Bert is that Foster was part of an strong Socceroos team in 1997 that failed to make it to the World Cup despite holding a 2-0 lead against Iran. His legacy is being part of the biggest choke in Australia's sporting history. That 97 team was certainly more talented the what Bert had at his disposal. Yet Foster's team didn't even make it to the World Cup despite holding a 2-0 lead at home. How mentally brittle do you have to be to throw away a World Cup appearance when you're 2-0 up?
pauul
Guest
And it pours cold water on the theory that Australians don't care about "sockah".
Mike
Guest
Optus’ EPL coverage is excellent now
Eddie
Guest
Good news. Maybe it's due to less demand, or maybe it's because they've fixed the CDN issues, but I have had zero issues with Optus Sport for the last week. I will continue using it over SBS as I prefer the presenters and commentary team. John Aloisi has been very insightful and I'm actually warming (slowly) to Mark Schwarzer. Also the 6.30am show is excellent as they have a good rotation of guests on.
hogdriller
Roar Rookie
I remember the discussions on here regards any poor OPTUS coverage with the EPL when they began televising it, was this all sorted out in the end? Curious is all.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
The great thing to come out of this debacle is the power of football fans in Oz. I dare say that in the past this would have been brushed aside as inconsequential without much media attention or fallout - C7 and the NSL. Optus tried to pull the punters in on the cheap and have been rewarded appropriately. Lesson learnt?
Damo
Guest
They simply had no choice. As a person that works in digital space, if they didn't have the hardware/architecture to have it right 2 weeks ago, it was basically impossible to have it procured, upgraded/installed and tested ready for the Round16 especially for something this grand in scale.
Wayne
Roar Guru
Smart move by Optus. The damage is already done, if they produce a 0 fault outcome now then nothing changes. If anything goes wrong, there reputation takes a battering once more.
anon
Roar Pro
Foster was pathetic in his gloating last night when Germany lost. These guys in Australia really don't like German or Dutch soccer.
Midfielder
Guest
I wish SBS would take their broadcast team
User
Roar Rookie
Best news EVER