The telco has inked a three-year deal to show the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and the Super Cup. The former two tournaments are in their qualifying stages already and Optus Sport has begun to show every match live, followed by all group stage matches starting in September 2018 and continuing through until the final in 2019. Optus Sport will also show live and exclusive the UEFA Super Cup match between fortunate 2018 Champions League winners Real Madrid and Europa League champion Atlético Madrid on 16 August.

These new deals mean Optus Sport will now offer a range of premium European football, including the live Australian rights to: the Premier League 2018/19 -2021/22; FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2019 and other FIFA event; UEFA Nations League 2018 and 2020; UEFA Euro 2020; UEFA Super Cup 2018-2020; UEFA Champions League 2018/19- 2020/21; UEFA Nations League Final 2019 and 2021; UEFA Europa League 2018/19- 2020/21; European Qualifiers for Euro 2020; European Qualifiers for 2022 FIFA World Cup; selected international friendlies played in Europe by UEFA teams 2018-2022.

The deal comes even though for a period during the group stages of the World Cup, Optus had to share with free-to-air broadcaster SBS coverage for which it had the rights to stream exclusively due to network issues. Yet once resolved, streaming continued throughout the tournament and the company claimed “stellar” results in relation to a number of metrics, notwithstanding the previous issues.

Commenting on the Champion League win, Optus managing director marketing and product Ben White said: “This is an incredibly exciting time for Optus as we continue to build upon our strategy of delivering elite international football and exclusive content for customers. Adding these tournaments and elite football matches to Optus Sport provides our customers with more than double the live premium football content compared to this time last year. We have a clear vision for Optus Sport and our newly acquired rights highlight our confidence in our platforms as well as our production and approach. We are fully committed to our long-term strategy of delivering must-have exclusive content for customers and will continue to build our credentials of delivering an excellent viewing experience for customers across the Optus Sport platforms.”

UEFA director of marketing Guy-Laurent Epstein added: “We are excited to partner with Optus in the territory of Australia. Optus has proven its dedication to football in recent years, acquiring a considerable portfolio of premium footballing content. We look forward to seeing the way in which Optus builds the UEFA club competition brands in the territory and makes the competitions available for fans in Australia.”