Telstra and Kayo Sports have joined with the winter football codes AFL and NRL with a discount deal that will appeal to many sports fans.
The offer comes just one day before Nine and Kayo will officially launch their new Stan Sports streaming package.
The Telstra headline news is that eligible AFL or NRL Telstra Live Pass customers can qualify for a discount of $20 a month for 12 months on a Kayo Sports subscription. Total annual saving if you want Kayo Sports – $240.
Telstra’s Kim Krogh Andersen, Foxtel’s Patrick Delany, Fox Sports’ Hannah Hollis, Kayo’s Julian Ogrin and NRL’s Andrew Abdo
The fine print on the deal for existing Telstra customers is that they must have had a Telstra AFL or NRL Live Pass prior to December 22 last year. Customers who qualified after December 22, or want to join now to get a deal, will get a smaller discount of $10 a month off the Kayo subscription for 12 months. Still a saving of $120 annually though.
Telstra will no longer stream live coverage of AFL or NRL matches via its Live Pass. The move comes nine years after Telstra launched its Live Pass in 2012 (and on mobile devices in 2014).
At a launch event today, Telstra CEO Andy Penn noted in the past few years the Telstra Live pass around 3m users annually. The AFL Live and NRL Live apps will remain powered by Telstra, and still offer replays, live scores, highlights, statistics and other existing features apart from the live streaming.
The new deal doesn’t impact the existing Live Pass access to the Netball Live Official App or MyFootball Live App.
Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany, who also spoke at the launch event, told Mediaweek that this move would impact significantly on the total Kayo user numbers. Delany also noted how good the 2020/21 summer had been for Foxtel and Kayo with record numbers watching Australia v India cricket tour in T20s, ODIs and Test Matches in record numbers.
The AFL’s CEO Gillon McLachlan and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo also attended the event. McLachlan and Telstra boss Penn were in Melbourne, with Delany and Abdo in Sydney.
Gillon McLachlan and Andy Penn
Delany told Mediaweek: “Some Kayo customers already have Live Pass access, but there is a hell of a lot that don’t. Like a lot of our products, there is some crossover. There are also Kayo customers that take Foxtel. They like the Kayo form factor, and they want to have it even though they could use Foxtel Go.
“The opportunity from this Telstra offer is very, very big for new Kayo customers and a fabulous growth opportunity for the platform.”
Delany added that in 2021, Foxtel and Kayo will continue to be bold and aggressive. “And this is part of that. It is an extraordinary offer from Telstra to tell its customers that $20 of a $25 fee monthly will be discounted.”
The deal for Telstra customers at this stage for the first 12 months only, after which time they will need to decide whether to continue with Kayo at $25 monthly.
The Kayo growth plan comes after what Delany called “a really hard year last year”. He added: “In the March/April period when Covid was upon us and there was no live sport, it hit the company hard and you have seen it in our results. Our ad revenue was hit and our pubs and clubs revenue was hit. Kayo was hit because it was digital and people can just turn it off.
“We have enormous gratitude for Gillon McLachlan and Peter V’Landys for getting their sports back on. Our ad revenue subsequently started to come back and our Kayo. subscribers flooded back.
“In the summer, no one knew if Cricket Australia could pull off those Tests and it’s always difficult getting competition happening. It was a great relief they got it away and the controversy surrounding it helped too. And what a great sports contest it was. Our viewing was up 44% in the Tests and the Big Bash League.”
Delany added he is hoping for a much better 2021, but said the Foxtel Group will retain a very strong focus on cost control.
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Top Photo: Telstra CEO Andrew Penn alongside sports stars and current AFL and NRL premiers, Tom Lynch and Bachar Houli (Richmond Tigers – AFL), Jahrome Hughes and Brenko Lee (Melbourne Storm – NRL); Bathurst 1000 winners Mark Winterbottom and David Reynolds (Supercars), and Tayla Harris and Madison Prespakis (Carlton – AFLW)