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Closely watched subscription sports-journalism website The Athletic is making its first push into the Australian market, teaming up with Optus Sport to deliver its news and analysis of major football tournaments free to its subscribers.
Optus Sport will feature a selection of football articles and videos from The Athletic for free on the editorial section of its app as part of an initial 12-month deal that could be extended for years to come. The Athletic, which operates in the US and UK, will not have a local editorial presence, but the move is a clear signal of its ambitions to grow a subscriber base in the Australian market.
The Athletic’s coverage of the EPL will be available to Optus Sport subscribers.Credit:Getty Images
“Optus is the ideal partner as we take this significant step in bringing The Athletic’s content to more fans around the world,” Alex Peebles, commercial director at The Athletic, said.
“Australia is one of the world’s great sporting markets with some of the most knowledgeable and avid consumers of media in the world. And the state of football in Australia is extremely exciting. The domestic game is gathering momentum, while internationally, with the FIFA World Cup next year, the AFC Asian Cup and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023, the timing couldn’t be better.”
The Athletic was launched in 2016 by Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann, former employees of subscription fitness company Strava. It specialises in video, news and analysis for sporting leagues such as the NBA, NFL and English Premier League, and has been rapidly expanding since it started operating in 2016. It surpassed 1 million subscribers last September and was last valued by private market investors at $US500 million ($655 million).
The Athletic registered as a local entity in South Yarra, Victoria, in mid-January and has a small team of engineers with subscriber and sports betting expertise.
Under the agreement, Optus will licence articles about the English Premier League, Champions League, La Liga and Serie A (the Serie A broadcast rights are currently up for renegotiation). Optus Sport users will also be able to subscribe to The Athletic for free for six months. Subscriptions typically cost $US7.99 per month or $US71.99 per year.
The agreement coincides with the revamp of the editorial section on the Optus Sport app, which is led by former Fox Sports football lead David Weiner. Richard Bayliss, Optus’ director of sport, said the commercial deal allows the telco to provide passionate fans with local and international coverage.
“Australia has a very unique way of following the Premier League. It has super passionate fans who have an Australianised view on it so, this gives us the balance to be able to service that need whilst giving the more in depth and up close aspect from The Athletic,” he said.