Optus secures Premier League rights until 2022

OPTUS has secured the exclusive Australian rights to the English Premier League for another three seasons and have revealed plans to open its sports platform to non-Optus customers.

The mobile and broadband provider’s sports broadcasting arm is offering a subscription to non-Optus customers for $14.99 a month.

This will allow them to access exclusive coverage of every match played, including live, on-demand, replay and short-form for all 380 games.

Optus will also show all 64 matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in June, with 39 of the matches exclusive to.

Singtel Optus chief executive Allen Lew told Fairfax Media it’s trying to connect with customers and fans on a different level.

“We believe the relationship with the consumer starts at different points and rather than using the traditional approach of a telco, which is all about providing the connectivity you need to have access to the content, we are flipping the model on its head and trying a different approach to market.”

This may see the likes of Telstra, Foxtel and Fox Sports follow suit and provide stand alone apps for streaming sports for a monthly fee.

Optus also announced a new “Start Over” button so those who missed the beginning of a live broadcast could watch from the start of a match. There will be additional commentary, and pre- and post-game analysis on the platform, spearheaded by former Socceroo Mark Schwarzer, who said at a press conference on Monday it would be “content that has never been readily available”.