As for the 1.2 million Australians with a Foxtel set-top box, they won’t see any immediate change once the deal is approved. Kayo, for now, will remain Kayo and will not become part of the existing DAZN platform, sources close to the deal not authorised to speak publicly say, given the millions of dollars Foxtel has invested in cultivating the Kayo brand.

But further down the line, DAZN will probably want to reconsider Foxtel’s investments in assets that don’t align with its global strategy of becoming the one-stop-shop for sports streaming.

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Foxtel has spent many millions of dollars on its streaming aggregation business Hubbl, with its boxes still half-price at most JB Hi-Fi stores. Its entertainment platform Binge is set to lose HBO shows such as The Last of Us and House of the Dragon in some form when Max is launched locally in 2025. Years also remain on Foxtel’s costly output deal with NBCUniversal, which provides The Day of the Jackal among others.

While still profitable, maintaining the infrastructure for the Foxtel set-top boxes will become harder to contend with as paying customers dip beneath the 1 million mark (and continue to dip) for the first time in two decades in the next 18 months.

Whatever the initial messaging, moving Foxtel into the hands of an owner unsympathetic to the Australian market will also have an impact. While already part of a global firm, Foxtel’s history is tied to the Murdochs, an Australian-founded company, while Lachlan Murdoch, who runs News Corp, resides in Sydney, a city that lives and breathes NRL.

While DAZN has a record of investing in domestic sports rights in major markets such as Japan, Germany and France, the likes of the NRL’s Peter V’Landys and the AFL’s Andrew Dillon may eventually appear too small fry for the streamer cosying up with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino and oil-rich Saudis.

Those behind the deal at DAZN say the company’s resolve for the NRL and its like, which is about to kick off broadcast negotiations for the 2027 season and beyond, has only strengthened, but V’Landys may have to adjust expectations for a bumper deal in the region the AFL managed to land in 2022.

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