EPL TV rights deal and Foxtel’s beIN Sports announcement – What does it all mean?

A little over three months ago we were hit with the news that Optus had secured the Australian broadcast rights to the English Premier League (EPL). The three year deal marked the end of the relationship with Foxtel and many confused and angry customers.

This was a big blow for Foxtel, a public relations disaster and a loss of the jewel in its sporting crown. Optus had sprung the ultimate surprise on Foxtel, sealing the rights for three times what Foxtel had paid previously. Little was known about how Optus was going to broadcast the EPL and even less was known about what Foxtel was going to do to recover.

Whilst question marks remained around the EPL rights one could not question the portfolio being established by beIN SPORTS.

The broadcaster recently secured their very own jewel in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) from rival network ESPN. Yet they were filling the odd role in the sports broadcasting landscape previously held by Setanta Sports. The $19.99 optional channel came with the same hefty price tag. A lack of HD quality and crucially for the UCL only a single live game selected by the broadcaster (when eight games are played live simultaneously).

One was left to wonder how a channel owned by the extremely wealthy Al Jazeera Media Network, a passionate football broadcaster was left with a single SD channel with such limitations in the Australian marketplace.

It wasn’t the only thing consumers were left to wonder about. The tangle for broadcast rights was creating an ever increasing fragmentation of football viewing services.

With delivery methods and price points yet to be finalised the uncertainty was having a negative impact. With only the A-League rights in their stables, Foxtel was being hit hard by subscribers demanding more as Optus graced the spotlight. It was an odd turn of events for Foxtel who for so long had faced no direct competition in the satellite television market for sports.

The great fear for Foxtel had been online streaming which had exploded onto the entertainment scene. It forced Foxtel into restructuring its packages to remain competitive. Sport still remained its untouched centerpiece, until Optus snatched the biggest of them all. One wonders how the dominant sports broadcaster in the nation could be caught out so badly. A company who has crushed competition in the past caught cold by old foe Optus.

The answer: infrastructure

Foxtel have a private, reliable, established satellite broadcasting network which allows live, high definition sports to be viewed in pubs, clubs and homes. Its quality is guaranteed and the additional features provided have often been on the cutting edge of technology.

Optus have decided to forge the EPL broadcast via the telecommunications infrastructure of Australia. A public and privately owned network comprised of the National Broadband Network (NBN) as well as the traditional copper phone lines provided by Telstra and others. It is technology which is not yet fully operational (NBN) whilst the copper network has a number of has a number of ageing issues.

Foxtel’s private network is both a strength and a weakness. It is large in size and a reliable form of broadcasting, it can’t be matched by any other company in the nation. The barrier to entry for competitors was sky high until the recent growth of online streaming. The development of new, public technology (NBN) has allowed for low cost competition with Foxtel.

National broadband network

Optus believes they are seizing the great opportunity, the new giant in online streaming to lead their way back into broadcasting in Australia. Unfortunately, there is severe risks in relying on the NBN and associated technologies to lead the way.

Firstly the NBN network is still largely incomplete around the nation. It is running significantly behind schedule. Optus plan on banking on this technology and it is looking increasingly likely to not be rolled out to all homes within the three-year EPL rights deal. The internet connection required to stream live sports is significantly different to streaming the latest episode of House of Cards off Netflix. You can’t pause live sport and let it load like a TV show.

If NBN connection isn’t strong enough then a picture of low standard is to be expected, a huge problem for a marketplace of consumers that has become accustomed to watching sport in HD.

Thirdly, the illegal streaming market is huge for the EPL with such popularity around the world. If Optus are going to offer a service on yet to be designed or tested platforms. What would stop people from streaming this product illegally?

These points could be argued but what can not is the uncertainty that comes with new technology nor the opportunity which comes with it. Optus have hedged a large amount on using the EPL to drive its online streaming platforms. Foxtel on the other hand are relying on its expensive, vast and secure broadcasting structure to continue to compete. This makes the deal with beIN Sports extremely intriguing as the battle begins to unfold like a game of chess. The old established hand battling the upstarts in the rise to the top, it sounds just like a football match of David vs Goliath.

READ | @Foxtel and beIN team up for new era of football broadcasting | https://t.co/j6HdWslJ1S | #ALeague #BPL pic.twitter.com/30IpHmiF5v

— Outside90 (@Outside90) March 31, 2016

Foxtel had resisted the power of the Al Jazeera network in its broadcasting arrangement. However, little over two weeks after Optus signed a deal with SBS and looked to broadcast online exclusively did Foxtel return fire.

Foxtel’s deal with beIN Sports is simply remarkable for football fans in Australia.

With UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1, German Bundesliga as well as South American football being available for viewing. This all comes at no extra cost to the subscriber and across three HD quality channels. The most watched league in the world might now be lost to Foxtel but it has expanded subscribers football viewing to be more in line with the Sky Sports offering that is available in the UK. It has removed fragmentation, removed the frustration of limited UCL viewing and the prohibitive extra cost per month.

The Pay TV giant has taken a huge plunge of its own with this new channel structure surely coming at significant cost (especially the decision not to pass it on to customers). One feels they have considered the high risks Optus is taking in relying on new technology which is yet to be fully implemented.

If Optus fail to deliver the EPL rights to a high standard then Foxtel will be knocking on the door to reclaim the rights in three years time. In any case, a superb package of football is now available through Foxtel as Australia grows into a footballing nation.

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