It’s hard to think of a month that isn’t bigger than March on the sporting calendar and Foxtel and Kayo have been at the centre of the action. There are arguably six tier one sports in Australia and five of them launched their 2021 seasons this month: Supercars, National Rugby League, Australian Football League, Netball and Formula 1. All five are also live exclusively or with shared rights on Fox Sports and Kayo.
The Foxtel Group and Fox Sports have already waved the start flag for Supercars and the two football codes and this week drivers started their engines on Formula 1.
This weekend Suncorp Super Netball returns to the Foxtel Group after a time at the Nine Network.
Speaking to Mediaweek at the recent season launch, Foxtel Group chief executive Patrick Delany explained:
“I was disappointed when we were unable to retain the netball rights, but we were going through a transitionary period in the group.
“When the rights came back up the company was very keen to get them back.
“Netball as a sport is extraordinarily strong in terms of participation and we have always been strong in women’s sport. The broad-based participation is matched with the strongest domestic competition of this sport in the world. There is also a really vibrant international competition where we are the best – these are the great hallmarks of a tier one sport in this country.
“We wanted to have it and we love that kids play netball right through to older people and that the passion for the sport remains.
“In that regard, netball is a great fit for Kayo. We are probably not going to grow Foxtel much through netball, although a lot of subscribers will watch it. But Kayo is a perfect fit.
“The Kayo Freebies element of the deal is very important. At the touch of a button you can have Kayo sports and by broadcasting all games on Sunday on Kayo Freebies you don’t even have to add your credit card.
See also:
Netball Australia signs five year deal with Foxtel, leaving Nine
“This is a great partnership between the Foxtel Group and Netball Australia. They wanted reach of broadcast and we wanted to be able to grow. The magic dust in the middle is the Fox Sports factor which we are showing off today [at the launch]. We have not held back, as we don’t with any sport.
“What we are doing will be the best presentation of netball in its history and you can mark 2022 as a fabulous year for the sport.”
The Fox Netball 2022 Launch at Crown Aviary
Photo: Graham Denholm/Getty Images
Above: Gretel Bueta, Cath Cox, Bianca Chatfield, Liz Watson, Hannah Hollis, Laura Geitz and Paige Hadley
Top photo: Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan with Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany
Foxtel and Kayo: separate businesses
When asked how Foxtel and Kayo are separate businesses within the Foxtel Group and if they share the cost of sports rights, Delany said they are and do.
“They are run as two separate companies. We have Hilary Perchard who runs Foxtel Retail and Julian Ogrin who runs Kayo Sports. They are two separate retail divisions and they market separately and they compete in the background. With people like myself and Amanda Laing [negotiating rights], it’s a bit like one kitchen serving several restaurants.”
As to Laing’s chief commercial and content officer role in securing netball, Delany said: “Amanda is an outstanding executive who happens to be a woman. Diversity among ranks is fantastic because you get outstanding people and all the views. She was very keen on us getting netball back. It was something also I wanted and she drove the deal.
“The coincidence of us having Kayo and Kayo Freebies meant that it was a possibility. The turnaround in the Foxtel Group also meant we had the money to invest. Along with Rebecca McCloy [head of sports rights], they have made this happen.”
When asked about the increased financial firepower at Foxtel, Delany also pointed to the 2021 AFL extension where all the digital rights moved to the group. “The recent NRL deal is also a show of that, as is Formula 1. When we had netball before, the licence deal was vastly different.
“What we have now shows the size of our business and the strength we have in sports.”
Kayo Freebies
Delany indicated it is still early days in the life of Kayo Freebies and that netball will be an important part of its rollout. “Part of the strategy for the whole group is for consumers not to know that Kayo Sports and Foxtel are related. To have that marketing bifurcation and subscriber bifurcation you have to grow a new brand. Getting the Kayo Sports message out there initially is easy because you reach people who wanted Foxtel but for whatever reason didn’t or couldn’t have it. Now the next phase is to push Kayo Sports forward as Australia’s sports brand.”
Kayo of course isn’t the only streaming platform offering sport to Australian subscribers. Or is it?
Tier one sports
“There aren’t that many,” responded Delany when asked about streaming competition. “There’s sport and sports. All the tier one sports are with Fox.
“It might be entirely possible for one service to make money on a particular sport when another isn’t. We found that with rugby, the majority of our subscribers, in addition to watching rugby, primarily watched AFL or rugby league. Maybe it’s possible to make money out of just the rugby people, we’ll see.
“We have gone after the top five sports and we are relentlessly pursuing better quality of rights and more exclusivity. We are earning that through bigger and bigger distribution and reach together with great production.”
See also:
Fox Sports and Kayo Sports launch 2022 Suncorp Super Netball season
Thursday in Mediaweek: Foxtel dealmaker Amanda Laing
Friday in Mediaweek: Bianca Chatfield on the transition from the court to broadcast booth (via reality TV)