Optus Sport leaves Australian football fans with no other choice

Source: Optus Sport

Gone are those days when you, your family and friends would gather around a TV and watch your beloved football team competing in the English Premier League.

Whether it has been staying up late or waking up at 2 am, the time difference in Australia has always been the main struggle for football (soccer) fans down under. However, due to Optus Sport emerging on the sports media surface, the new struggle for Aussie Premier League viewers is now actually having the facility to stream English Premier League (EPL) games. The equation is simple, you don’t subscribe to Optus Sport, you can’t watch the English Premier League. Although SBS showcases one out of the ten games per week, its still a loss of nine other fixtures for those who are not with Optus.

It all started in 2015, where Optus – a rival of Telstra and Australia’s second largest telecommunications company – won the Australian broadcast rights for the English Premier League for three seasons. Not only was Fox Sports stripped of their exclusive rights, so too were football fans who were subscribed to Foxtel. According to the 2018 Deloitte Media Consumer Survey, 11% of the 2000 consumers from the survey are now subscribed to Optus Sport – seeing them cancel their pay-TV subscriptions with Foxtel. The ultimate winners from this scenario were the original Optus customers – for those who are passionate about football of course.

This is a prime example of convergence and disruption in the media landscape, with the traditional media and the digitalised media combining. Watching sport, particularly football, now revolves around streaming devices. Smartphones, tablets, computers and laptops are expeditiously changing the way we consume our media. Nevertheless, the case involving Optus Sport acquiring the English Premier League rights does present its pros and cons.

Australian football fans – who are existing Optus customers – automatically get the English Premier League package. Not only can these fortunate fans watch Premier League games in the palm of their hand through the Optus Sport app, but they can also enjoy viewing the football on their Television screens through Fetch TV. Another advantage of Optus Sport is that it gives its users the freedom to choose what game they would like to watch when multiple fixtures are simultaneously played. Also, football fans who are not Optus customers can still subscribe to the platform through iTunes credit.

Only Fetch TV owners can experience Optus Sport on the big screen

But for Optus Sport consumers, it keeps on getting better. Earlier this year, Optus Sport secured the UEFA Champions League and Europa League (European club competitions) rights. This meant beIN SPORTS Australia - the only media outlet that would broadcast the games down under – lost the rights. It has so far been a win-win situation for Aussie football fans who are subscribed to Optus Sport.

However, before Optus Sport purchased the rights for the Champions League and Europa League, the platform exposed the flaws of sports media streaming outlets. After obtaining the 2018 FIFA World Cup rights, the World Cup experience ended up to become a fiasco for Optus Sport and its consumers. Most viewers couldn't stream the group stage games and some experienced lagging. Since the service became poor, Optus Sport – despite paying $8 million for the rights – gave SBS permission to broadcast almost the entire World Cup in Russia.

So Optus Sport is still an innovation in its infancy – slowly but surely becoming the future for football broadcasting in Australia. During its course so far, it has caused major disruption for Fox Sports and beIN SPORTS Australia through gaining exclusive rights for European football competitions and leagues. This new media platform is really the only option and place for an Australian football fan to witness their team from abroad playing a league fixture.

References

Christensen, C. M., Raynor, M. E., & McDonald, R. (2015, December). What is Disruptive Innovation? Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/

News.com.au. (2018, August 3). Optus secures rights to the UEFA Champions League after World Cup disaster. News.com.au. Retrieved from http://www.news.com.au/

Samios, Z. (2018, September 17). Rise of sports apps to impact pay TV subscriptions, research suggests. Mumbrella. Retrieved from http://www.mumbrella.com.au/

Siracusa, C. (2015, November 2). Optus snatches English Premier League rights from Fox Sports in Australia. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/