Optus Sport has continued its investment in showcasing global football by securing the Australian rights to the 2021 and 2024 Copa América tournaments.
The acquisition of South America’s premier football event, and the world’s oldest international football competition, will see Optus Sport exclusively broadcast 79 competitive internationals games in 32 days across the Copa América and Euro 2020 tournaments in June and July 2021.
Optus’ head of TV and content Corin Dimopoulos said today’s announcement reinforces Optus Sport’s position as the home of premium football in Australia.
“Optus Sport is well and truly focused on securing the best football tournaments and leagues, whilst continuing our world-class coverage across our stable of top-notch football,” he said.
“From Lionel Messi and Neymar in the Copa America 2021, to Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane in the upcoming Euro 2020, what was already a big year for Optus Sport has now become a whole lot bigger,” he added.
Optus originally acquired the Copa América rights for 2020 but when the tournament didn’t take place due to Covid-19, the agreement lapsed. Optus has now agreed a new longer-term arrangement, which means Optus Sport customers will be able to watch Brazil, Argentina, and all other CONMEBOL teams in this year’s tournament, and then again in 2024.
The next few months now shape up to be big on Optus Sport, with interest building for Euro 2020, the culmination of the Premier League and WSL seasons, the knockout stage of this season’s Champions League and Europa League, J.League, and now the Copa América 2021.
“We pride ourselves on delivering world-class football to our fans, and to now be able to add this to our suite of rights will hopefully be a dream come true for our Optus Sport customers. The months of June and July will be the closest thing you can experience to a World Cup with a celebration of non-stop football,” said Dimopoulos.
Optus Sport will be concurrently broadcasting the Euro 2020 and Copa América 2021 tournaments, with matches being scheduled to minimise clashes. Copa América kicks off with Argentina v Chile on Monday June 14 at 07:00am AEST.
Some key matches:
• Lionel Messi’s Argentina play Chile on 14 June at 07:00am AEST
• Defending champion Brazil takes on Venezuela on 15 June at 09:00am AEST
• World number 8 Uruguay meets Argentina in an epic clash on 18 June at 10:00am AEST
• The 2021 Copa America Final kicks off on Sunday 11 July at 10:00am AEST.