Stan continues to expand its Stan Sport offering and diversify its revenues with the Tyson Fury v Dillian Whyte pay-per-view (PPV) fight from Wembley on Sunday morning April 24. Stan chief executive Martin Kugeler recently took part in the SportNXT conference in Melbourne. Here Kugeler talks to Mediaweek about PPV success, the growth of Stan Originals and the relationship with parent company Nine Entertainment.
Stan last month held its first boxing event with Sonny Bill Williams’ emphatic victory over rival Barry Hall in Sydney. Branded a success by Kugeler and the team, this weekend could see an even bigger turnout with the Tyson Fury WBC championship defence fight.
The Sydney fight was Stan’s first PPV event and the success looks like it has secured a new revenue stream for the platform. Formerly boxing was the exclusive domain of Foxtel’s Main Event channel, but CEO Kugeler told Mediaweek the industry had welcomed a new option. It is a relatively low-risk expansion too. Stan’s usual content acquisition sees them dealing with fixed costs when paying for programming which will be covered by existing and new subscribers.
The PPV business model sees Stan sharing revenue with the promoter the fixed cost is the platform’s marketing investment.
Stan’s roadmap included boxing some time ago, back when Mike Sneesby (now Nine CEO) was still chief executive and Kugeler was the CFO.
Kugeler told Mediaweek the Sonny Bill Williams fight “far exceeded our expectations”. He added: “The feedback we had from the boxing community was incredible. It was a boxing match, but we organised it as an entertainment event. We had spidercam which nobody else had done before and virtual graphics that were also a first.”
The streaming service also helped build the atmosphere at the venue and for viewers with live music before the main event.
A key reason the first fight was such a success according to Kugeler was the promotion work it undertook. “We took full advantage of the marketing engine we have created. As part of the Nine Entertainment group we used our ability to cross-promote on things like NRL broadcasts, rugby broadcasts, in the Today show, and on Nine Radio. That helped create awareness about the fight that has never been seen before.”
Also critical to the PPV success was upselling the event to the 2.5m+ subscriber base. “All existing subscribers had to do was one click of a button and they could add the event,” said Kugeler.
So robust is the platform now, there were no technical challenges on the night. “We were planning, although not expecting, high numbers and we had scaled the platform to be able to handle the rush.” Kugeler noted that PPV fights see customers arriving shortly before the fight starts and the platform needs to handle a high volume of transactions in a short period of time.
Stan CEO Martin Kugeler
Stan Originals
Just last month Stan confirmed it would be ramping up its Stan Original slate it detailed last year. “In the current financial year we doubled what was our traditional Stan Originals to 10,” explained Kugeler.
“In FY23 we are on track to double that again to close to 20 Stan Originals. Our goal by 2025 is to get Stan Originals to account for as much as 30% of our new content. That strategy gives Stan more control over the content, making us less reliant on content supply from Hollywood studios.
“The audience loves that content as the Stan Originals work really well for us. Five of the top 10 most-watched feature films on the platform are Stan Originals and four of the top 10 TV shows are Stan Originals. The commissioned content works for us in terms of engagement and customer acquisition.”
Kugeler said Stan hasn’t increased its staff numbers to deal with the growing list of Originals. “We have always had a small yet very effective team with great expertise. Our chief of content Cailah Scobie looks after originals, licensing, and programming.”
Part of the recent announcements included three productions with Hollywood studio Lionsgate. Kugeler noted there are close to another 30 projects in development.
The four avenues that Stan assesses potential Originals are ideas pitched from the creative sector, existing relationships with Hollywood studios for commissioning (something that produced The Tourist with Peacock, The Commons with Sony and The Gloaming with Disney), Stan’s development initiatives aided by funding agencies and working alongside Nine on projects (recent announcements include the drama Bali 2002 and Nick McKenzie’s Stan Original Documentary Revealed: Amongst Us – Neo Nazi Australia).
Key cast members Claudia Jessie, Rachel Griffiths and Richard Roxburgh from the forthcoming Bali 2002
Stan’s content partnership with Nine
The stronger programming relationship with Nine means that Stan will get the premiere of a project which then might eventually screen on Nine. Kugeler noted though that Stan remains very much a separate entity.
“Stan has been very successful being run as an independent business with a pure focus on the streaming sector and I don’t see that changing. It’s fantastic to be part of the Nine group and the opportunities that presents us. That includes getting access to the skillset of journalists at Nine and their stories. For them, it gives them an opportunity to develop projects with Stan, something else nobody else can offer in the country.”
Stan’s next PPV event
The Tyson Fury v Dillian Whyte fight could just attract the biggest crowd to a boxing event ever. Stan will stream the event to customers Sunday morning in Australia from Wembley Stadium. The WBC championship bout has sold out in a venue that has a capacity of close to 100,000.
Stan still has tickets available for viewers at $60. In the UK it is on BT Sport Box Office for £25 and in the US on ESPN+ for US$70.