Optus Sport Secures Australian Broadcast Rights To FIFA Club World Cup

Optus Sport has secured exclusive Australian broadcast rights for the 11-day tournament, the FIFA Club World Cup, in 2019 and 2020.

The FIFA Club World Cup, which is set to be held in Qatar for the next two years, will see the winners of the six continental confederations, including a representative from Oceania, Europe, Africa, Asia, North America, South America and the host country.

Optus’ director of sport, Richard Bayliss, said this addition to Optus Sport’s soccer coverage will further show their commitment to entertaining Australians and providing high quality live content.

“We are extremely pleased to add this tournament to our football schedule and we’re confident our 700,000 plus Optus Sport active subscribers will enjoy the format,” Bayliss said.

“Broadcasting Liverpool’s sixth Champions League triumph was a massive moment for Optus Sport, and it will be a privilege for us to show the Reds’ (Liverpool FC) attempt to overcome the best of South America, Asia, North America, [Oceania] and Africa.

“Brazil’s Flamengo had a stunning Copa Libertadores win in November, so they too will enter the World Cup in ominous form.

“These new rights show our commitment to showing Australians the best clubs from around the world on Optus Sport,” he said.

Reigning UEFA Champions League champions, Liverpool, are set to replace Real Madrid as the European representative, after Real Madrid had won the FIFA Club World Cup the last three years.

Liverpool has only appeared in the FIFA Club World Cup once before and suffered a loss in the final in 2005 to South American representative, Sao Paulo, a fate the English giant will surely look to rectify in 2019.

In their exclusive broadcast, Optus Sport will provide every match live, on-demand, as a mini-match, as well as create various highlight packages from across the tournament.

Optus will also produce a new in-house, live 90-minute football show, Scores on Sunday, which will be hosted on rotation by Mel Mclaughlin, Richard Bayliss and Niav Owens and is set to feature Heather Garriock, Mark Schwarzer, John Aloisi and Alicia Ferguson.

The FIFA Club World Cup starts December 12 in Qatar and will crown a champion on December 22, with Liverpool set to face Al-Sadd Sports Club (Qatar), Esperance Sportive de Tunis (Africa), Al Hilal FC (Asia), Monterrey (North, Central America and Caribbean), Hienghene Sport (Oceania) and CR Flamengo (South America).