Nine's goal to become home of Australian soccer with English Premier League dream
If successful in acquiring the rights, it is understood Nine would broadcast EPL games on its Stan Sport subscription service. It would be unlikely Nine would show any EPL games on free-to-air television.
While initial talks last year couched a sale of the entire Optus Sport, it is understood Nine is seeking to acquire individual assets, which include the three English soccer competitions, but not some less valuable contracts, such as the J-League, Japan’s domestic competition. Optus’ current deal, worth $600 million across six years, has three years to run.
Should Nine then seriously consider a bid to broadcast A-Leagues matches, it would bring Australia’s top soccer competition alongside the EPL for the first time in a decade, from when both sets of rights were held locally by Fox Sports and televised on Foxtel.
Mathew Leckie holds the A-League championship trophy with his Melbourne City teammates last month.Credit: Getty Images
Paramount, which owns free-to-air Network Ten, has one year left on its five-year, $200 million deal to televise A-League games, which was signed in 2021. The Australian Professional Leagues (APL), which operates the men’s and women’s A-Leagues, in April opened talks for its next rights deal, which begins with the 2026-27 season.
Paramount last year agreed to an extension to show Socceroos and Matildas matches until 2028. The US-owned network wants to extend its partnership with the domestic competition for two seasons to align the two deals, sources said.
Paramount remains in limbo over its multibillion-dollar takeover deal by the tech-rich Ellison family, and a two-year deal would allow the company to renegotiate both deals in 2028 or walk away from the sport in Australia.
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A Paramount extension is considered the most likely outcome, however, the outcome of Nine’s deal with Optus will inform any serious consideration for the A-Leagues. The value of Paramount’s deal to televise national team matches would be significantly diminished without the A-Leagues, and vice versa.
APL executive chair Stephen Conroy declined to comment on the process. Nine also declined to comment, but pointed to previous statements signalling it considers any major sports contract that comes to market.
Nine is set to secure a windfall from the sale of Domain, the digital real estate business, of which it owns 60 per cent, and has signalled intent to reinvest some of its returns into bolstering its sport offering on streaming service Stan. Stan’s subscriber base has stagnated after initial rapid growth, with an increasingly saturated market and competitive entertainment sector.
Stan Sport is only available as a $15 add-on to regular Stan subscriptions, which start at $12 a month. Adding a number of bigger sports packages, such as the English Premier League and Formula 1 championship, which chief executive Matt Stanton has confirmed the company’s interest in, would offer the opportunity to consider standalone pricing options.
Nine would also be able to show some A-League matches on free-to-air television, as Paramount does with Network Ten.
Stephen Conroy (right), the former Labor senator Stephen Conroy who is now the head of the Australian Professional Leagues.Credit: Getty Images
A senior Nine executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the company would certainly look at the rights, but this would not necessarily translate to a concrete offer. A Foxtel spokesperson said the broadcaster considered all rights deals that came to market.
Stan Sport broadcasts the UEFA Champions League, soccer’s biggest continental competition.
Foxtel was recently acquired by global streaming firm DAZN, which broadcasts various soccer competitions across the globe, and is broadcasting the FIFA Club World Cup, hosted in the United States. Now part of a global network which favours the sport, Foxtel may consider a return to the soccer in Australia, which it all-but abandoned five years ago.
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Fox Sports was the broadcaster of the A-League from its incumbent season in 2005 until 2021. It aired the EPL from 1997 to 2016, with its local coverage rolling into overnight matches most weekends during the season. The A-League launched amid a wave of popularity for the round ball game when the Socceroos qualified for the 2006 World Cup, its first in 32 years.
After Optus took the rights for the EPL in 2016, fans have had to closely consider where to invest their funds, with each of Foxtel, Optus Sport, Stan Sport and BeIN Sport offering different packages for different competitions.
While total viewership figures are difficult to directly compare, the domestic league has declined in popularity over the past decade since being split off from the English Premier League, despite some audience gains in its most recent season.
Average attendances at A-League games peaked in the 2007-08 season, and despite two years of declining crowds, numbers stabilised between 2011-12 and 2016-17, with average crowds of about 12,000-13,000 fans.
Crowds for A-League men’s games declined over five successive seasons from the 2017-18 season, but have recovered somewhat in the years since the COVID-19 disrupted seasons. The recently completed 2024-25 season had the highest average attendance figures since 2019-20.
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