Football fans wanting to watch the English Premier League in Australia next season will have to pay more for the privilege.
Optus Sport, the current Australian broadcast rights holders, confirmed on May 29 that their subscription fees will be changing from August 1.
Optus Sport subscriptions previously cost $14.99 per month and were free for certain Optus customers.
As of August 1, subscriptions will increase to a monthly fee of $24.99 or $199 for a yearly package. Optus customers are also set to be charged $6.99 per month for the service.
Along with the Premier League, Optus Sport also shows the Women's Super League, J-League, certain international matches and will be the main Australian broadcaster for the 2023 Women's World Cup.
The streaming service recently locked down the Premier League rights Down Under for a further six years and believe their subscription price increase will allow them to continue providing a quality product.
"This compares favourably with other content streaming services that have emerged in the Australian landscape and is the first change to Optus Sport’s pricing since we first launched in 2016," an Optus Sport statement read in relation to the pricing change.
"We want you to know that we’re fully committed to providing value for money, so from August, all live and on-demand Premier League matches will be available to stream in 1080p HD on supported devices. That means you can watch all the action from the world’s best league in exceptional detail.
"We’ll continue bringing you every match live, plus full replays, mini matches, highlights, magazine shows and more, so you can watch your team without missing a beat."
Optus Sport's announcement comes at a tricky time for plenty of Australians struggling financially.
Football fans over the past year have seen the division of competition rights force them to take out multiple subscriptions to watch the sport they love.
While Optus Sport have the Premier League, Stan Sport acquired the UEFA rights from them last year, while Serie A, Bundesliga and La Liga is shown on beIN Sports which is accessible via Kayo. Fans wanting to watch every game of the A-League Men this season would have also required a Paramount+ subscription.
Combined, all four services could cost as much as $82 a month once Optus Sport's price changes and fans aren't happy that the price of football keeps going up.
So, Optus Sport lost the Champions League, Europa League, FA Cup, League Cup, and aren’t broadcasting the men’s World Cup. Now they significantly increase their annual fee - they know there’s no other way for Australians to watch the EPL. What a joke. https://t.co/8uc03hB82j
— Jedd Zetzer (@JeddZetzer) May 29, 2022
Optus Sports price increase is wild.
— Mark Serrels (@Serrels) May 29, 2022
@OptusSport I read your changes and they suggest you now want to charge me more $$
— Humpty Dumpty (@humpty_dumpty87) May 29, 2022
In a world where inflation is rising and interest rates expected to go up and up, this just sounds like corporate greed!
Why not leave things as they are? I can live without 1080
The price of sporting subscriptions is too damn high, especially with this Optus price hike. For Liverpool fans this season, if they wanted to watch every match across all competitions it would cost $83/month with the new Optus price. That's $830 for the entire season.
— Elliott Richardson (@ElliottRichard1) May 29, 2022
bold move from Optus in the current economic climate. Cost of living riskng, real wages going backwards. Football broadcast rights keep fragmenting and the subs keep going up. https://t.co/XJ4fYjRoMx
— Ben Williams (@BenitoWill) May 29, 2022
The 2022-23 Premier League season is set to begin on August 6 with Manchester City reigning champions after seeing off Liverpool by a single point.
