Australia: Optus Group acquire the broadcasting rights for the Barclays Premier League from 2016-19

The telecommunications group Optus has acquired the exclusive broadcasting rights, in Australia, for the Barclays Premier League for the 2016-2019 cycle, on 02/11/2015. Optus outbid the pay-TV groups Foxtel, who had held the rights since 1997, and beIN Sports Australia.

The amount of the acquisition is estimated, according to sources, between $45m and $50m Australian dollars (between €29.5m and €32.7m), more than double what Foxtel payed for the Premier League for the 2013-2016 cycle (between $20m and $25m Australian, or €13m to €16.5m).

The rights acquired by Optus, a subsidiary of Singapore's Singtel telecommunications group, are valid across all distribution platforms. Optus, which does not have its own pay-TV channel, has not yet indicated how it wants to distribute the rights to the Premier League.

Either the group will only broadcast the Premier League via mobile platforms, or it will create its own channel, or it will join a pay-TV channel (rumoured to be Fetch TV), according to the Australian Financial Review on 02/11/2015.

• "This is another significant step in our strategy…