Aussie fans’ sporting fix won’t be disrupted despite Foxtel selling out to DAZN.
AFL and NRL fans relying on pay-TV for their footy fix are being assured their viewing pleasure won’t be disrupted despite Foxtel selling out to a UK-based sports streaming service not immune to consumer criticism. DAZN has paid $3.4bn to buy Foxtel – and pay back the company’s massive debt to News Corp and Telstra – while introducing itself to Australian sports fans on a large scale.
DAZN – pronounced “Da Zone” and owned by Ukraine-born, London-based billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik – has invested heavily in boxing and owns the rights to several overseas football leagues and the NFL (outside of America). It aims to become the “Netflix of sport” and sees sports-mad Australia as a key component in its ambition to become a global powerhouse, with cricket, AFL and NRL its three major tentpoles.
Foxtel holds the AFL subscription and streaming rights until the end of 2031, while a similar deal with the NRL expires in 2027. Both codes will be watching developments closely while attempting to build a relationship with DAZN as it prepares to deal with its new broadcast partner.
Australians watch more sport than any other country in the world, which makes this deal an incredibly exciting opportunity for DAZN to enter a key market, marking another step in our long-term strategy to become the global home of sport,” DAZN chief executive Shay Segev said.
Foxtel sale blindsides Aussie sports fans
The move to sell Foxtel blindsided many Australian footy fans, who rely on the old set-top box or Kayo streaming subscription to stay across all the AFL and NRL action, including the weekly magazine shows. Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany, who will remain at the helm to ensure a smooth handover while implementing the necessary changes, said viewers won’t see a difference in the near future, promising it will deliver them a “better offer” while being an innovator and disrupter to the way things have been.
Eventually, it is expected DAZN will move all Australian sports onto its platform. That platform came in for heavy criticism last weekend when viewers complained the feed for the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk fight buffered, lost audio or crashed altogether.
It’s not the first time DAZN has felt consumers’ wrath for poor delivery. Experienced media analyst Steve Allen doubts DAZN will use its own platform, initially, to broadcast local sport and will instead rely on Foxtel’s current set-up.
He told Yahoo Sport Australia: “Foxtel’s infrastructure seems better – albeit with a smaller market and defined geographic limitations. It’s stable and able to carry the load. “This delivers DAZN a really solid base and infrastructure in Australia, from which one assumes they can expand.”
He expects the company to aggressively pursue sporting rights in Australia, which will be music to the ears of NRL boss Peter V’Landys as talks begin on the next broadcast deal. “DAZN have to pursue with vigour any sports they can get locally,” Allen said.
“They are limited by our anti-siphoning laws, our sports’ popularity (globally) and cost of rights, which are high in Australia, even by international standards.”
