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ptus sports customers will now be able to access a selection of football articles and videos produced by The Athletic sports network after announcing a new partnership.

This deal comes as Optus Sport has launched its News and Articles section, which features new content from The Athletic alongside articles from football journalists led by Jake Rosengarten; featuring, David Weiner, David Davutovic, Samantha Lewis, Paul Williams, Carly Adno and James Willoughby.

The launch of the new partnership comes less than a week out from the 2021/22 English Premier League season, in which Optus has built its platform around the massive following in Australia.

The Subscription-based sports publisher has a strong focus on European football, and although the site doesn’t have an editorial presence in Australia, Optus Sports customers will be able to consume a section of football content as part of a 12-month deal.

Usually available for $6.99 a month, Optus sports customers will have the opportunity to sign up for a free six-month subscription to The Athletic

The partnership won’t see The Athletic cover any Australian sports content; however, the publisher will licence its existing content, including coverage of every Premier League club, in-depth analysis across the Champions League, Series A, La Liga, Bundesliga and international competitions.

Optus head of Tv and content, Corin Dimopoulos, said: “The Partnership with The Athletic will take Optus Sport’s football coverage to a whole new level of exclusive stories and expert analysis, and shows why we are the home of the best football coverage in Australia.”

“While we will be providing football content from The Athletic on Optus Sport longer term, our customers also have the opportunity to access a free six-month subscription to The Athletic,” Dimopoulos said.

The Athletic commercial director, Alex Peebles, said: “Optus is the ideal partner as we take this significant step in bringing The Athletics’ content to more fans around the world.”

“Optus is a highly innovative media business, the market leader in Australian football and the official Premier League broadcaster, and we are extremely pleased that together, we can deliver The Athletics’ incredible product to Australia’s football fans”, Peebles said.

Optus sports will not broadcast the UEFA Champions League this season as Nine’s Stan Sport holds the broadcasting rights.

Optus Sports vice president of TV, content and production development, Clive Dickens, spoke to Mumbrella about the disappointment in losing the Champions League rights to Stan Sport.

“We can’t win everything,” Dickens said.

Dickens predicts broadcasters will continue to bet on sport as it brings shared experiences that bring certainty for people.

“We live in an incredibly uncertain world.

“And in fact, even in a pandemic across the world, that certainty has been there as we come together in these shared experiences around sports.

“So, as we all delve into our SVOD of choice in the evening after we’ve watched a bit of primetime TV, these shared experiences become even more important.”