2 min readNine Entertainment is reportedly close to securing the streaming rights for the English Premier League (EPL) in Australia.
The deal, which is said to be worth somewhere in the ballpark of $100 million per year, has "progressed signficantly" over the last few weeks, according to The Australian. If the acquisition comes to pass, it will see Optus hand over the streaming rights to Stan, bolstering the local streamer's sports offer in a big way.
According to B&T, Paramount has also thrown its hat in the ring as well, but is only seeking to secure streaming rights for a selection of exhibition matches, whereas Stan would have the full-season streaming rights.
Removing Optus Sport from the pitch would leave Australian football fans with three primary streaming options: Stan Sport, Paramount Plus and beIN Sports— which, combined, offer most major football leagues from around the world, such as the Europa League, the UEFA Champion's League, A-League, Coppa Italia, Bundesliga and more.
So what does that mean for Optus Sport subscribers and EPL fans? Well, without the EPL, Optus Sport won't have much to offer. Currently it retains the streaming rights to the J League (Japan), K League (Korea), the Emirates Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) and the US National Women's Soccer League. Each of those leagues has their own fanbases here in Australia, but nowhere near the audience of the EPL. Last year, Optus Sport let its streaming rights for two other major football leagues lapse, Spain's La Liga and the UEFA Champion's League. Without any further investment, to make up for the loss of those popular leagues, it seems Optus is gearing up to ditch its sport streaming offer entirely.
With the 2024/26 season set to wrap up later in May, it's unlikely there will be any major changes to the streaming arrangement over the next few weeks. But it's looking more and more likely that the 2025/26 season will kick-off on Stan Sport when the opening match takes place in August.
Currently, Optus Sport costs $9.99 per month for Optus customers, and $24.99 per month for everyone else. Stan Sport, on the other hand, costs a minimum of $27 per month. If you're not already an Optus customer, that's not a huge difference, but if you are, you could be looking at an additional $17 per month to stream the EPL. At least Stan offers a lot more than Optus Sport, including Super Rugby, the UEFA Champions, Europa and Conference League and a huge selection of TV shows and movies to boot.
Here's how Stan Sport compares against other sports streaming services in Australia.
