The NBA and NFL will maintain a presence on Australian television, courtesy of a recent multi-year carriage agreement between ESPN and Foxtel.
The deal ensures the continuation of US sports programming on both linear TV channels and streaming services offered by Foxtel.
For over two decades, Foxtel has partnered with ESPN to broadcast major American sports leagues such as the NBA and NFL in Australia.
This new contract solidifies their collaboration further while allowing select games from other properties like the NHL, MLB, and UFC as well as premier US college sports events to be showcased on Foxtel’s platforms.
Foxtel's services also include Kayo Sports - its dedicated streaming platform that caters to an audience exceeding 1.3 million subscribers.
This newly inked agreement promises not just live sporting action but also access to some familiar ESPN original shows like SportsCenter, First Take and Pardon The Interruption for Australian fans.
Rebecca McCloy, Executive Director of Commercial and Sport at Foxtel Group said:
“We are proud to be the home of Australia’s biggest and most popular sports through Foxtel and Kayo Sports – it’s great news for our millions of sports subscribers that this deal will ensure they continue to have access to the best of ESPN’s world-class sports,”
“These rights, and the strength and quality of coverage from Fox Sports and partners like ESPN, is continuing to drive the growth of our award-winning streaming service Kayo Sports – which now has more than 1.3 million subscribers.”
It is worth noting though that despite holding onto rights for international markets like Australia through deals like this one with Foxtel; domestically within the USA - there might still be tough competition.
A fight for the NBA broadcasting rights may loom for ESPN as rival entities such as NBC, Amazon, and Apple set to vie intensely against it when ESPN attempts to renew the rights.
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