Optus EPL splurge has FFA taking note
MELBOURNE - Nov 2 AAP - A-League executives are hoping if Optus is willing to pay $189 million for English Premier League broadcast rights, there might be an improved pay day for the local league around the corner.
Optus shocked the industry and football fans on Monday morning, announcing they had obtained the rights to the world's most watched sports league in Australia for three years.
The deal ends Fox Sports' 18-year hold on the EPL and could yet herald the start of a new era in the sport consumption of Australians.
Optus is yet to unveil its broadcast plans.
The telco could on-sell rights to other existing broadcasters, introduce an online subscription or pay television model or combine a number of options for distributing the matches to the EPL's millions of fans in Australia.
The uncertainty means Football Federation Australia is still assessing the impact of the EPL deal on their hopes of improving their $40 million-a-year broadcast deal with Fox Sports and SBS.
FFA has been seeking a new free-to-air broadcast partner for some time in order to improve low SBS ratings for the A-League and Socceroos matches, and Optus' move could be a circuit-breaker.
There are several reasons for FFA chief executive David Gallop to be optimistic.
The mega-money move for EPL rights shows that football cannot be considered a niche sport in Australia, and the value of broadcast rights is still increasing.
The A-League has a bigger live audience than the EPL, largely owing to the time difference with the United Kingdom.
Optus could even launch another raid on the A-League rights itself as part of a move to "own" the round-ball game in Australia.
Or, the telco's move for the UK-based competition rights could free up a little more in the Fox Sports budget to spend on the A-League.
But as FFA knows from dipping its toe into the waters over the past 12 months, finding a buyer willing to part with hundreds of millions of dollars is easier said than done.
