Following the conclusion of UEFA EURO 2020 and the Copa America 2021, the Optus Sport big tournament focus shifts to premium women’s football.
There is just one year to go until the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 kicks off in England, and in two years the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 will be hosted in Australia and New Zealand for the very first time, with both tournaments to be broadcast live and in full on Optus Sport.
In addition, Optus Sport will broadcast the Barclays FA Women’s Super League returning in September, while the English Premier League kicks off in less than one month’s time.
In a rare reveal of the size of the Optus Sport audience, the telco has told how records were broken during the past five weeks’ broadcast of the UEFA EURO 2020 and Copa America 2021, won by Italy and Argentina respectively.
Optus and UEFA made a decision to offer a number of key matches for free to enable all Australians to sample Optus Sport and also the opportunity to watch the historic final.
Optus Sport team 2021
The EURO final was a dream match with England reaching its first final in 55 years and Italy winning its first European Championship in 53 years. This match saw a live reach of over 900,000, the most streamed game in Optus Sport history.
That is surely the biggest ever Non-Broadcast Live Sporting single event audience in Australian sports broadcasting history, with the European football match starting at 5am on a Monday.
Corin Dimopoulos, Optus head of TV and content, said, “We are proud to be the official broadcast partner of the world’s biggest men’s and women’s football tournaments, and the last few weeks have been an extremely special time for all football fans in Australia.
“With that in mind, just imagine what the audiences will be for the UEFA Women’s Euro and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023.
“The feedback and sentiment around our coverage has been fantastic, and this sets us up for our exclusive coverage of the Women’s Euros next year and then the following year, we will be the only place to watch all Women’s World Cup games hosted here in Australia and New Zealand.”
With the long-term focus set on the UEFA Women’s Euros and FIFA Women’s World Cup, up next for Optus Sport is the new season of the Premier League, which kicks off on Saturday August 14 followed by the Women’s Super League in September.
See also: Free view – UEFA Euro 2020 semi-finals and final no cost for all on Optus Sport