Telstra and Football Federation Australia have announced a five year mobile rights and sponsorship agreement, with Telstra securing the live mobile rights for football until 2023.
Joe Pollard, Telstra’s Group Executive of Media and Chief Marketing Officer, said Telstra was now providing a year-round live mobile sports offering across premier male and female competitions. The My Football Live App will be included in all Telstra mobile plans.
“We are the home of live Australian sport on-the-go, and on our brilliant network we are committed to making games available live, fast and data-free to as many Telstra customers as possible,” said Ms Pollard.
“We offer live streaming of every game of the AFL, AFLW, NRL and Netball seasons, on the leading mobile network in the country - and football is now joining the family. Adding the My Football Live App gives our customers a summer offering to complement the existing AFL, AFLW, NRL and Netball Live apps that are created by Telstra.”
Telstra has sub-licensed the mobile rights from Fox Sports, as part of the 2016 rights deal between the FFA and Foxtel.
Under the deal, Telstra will create and launch the new “My Football Live App” with live matches available via the Telstra Live Pass for existing Telstra mobile customers.
The My Football Live App will be the home of news, information and video for Australian Football on mobile devices and live streaming of the Hyundai A-League and select Westfield W-League, FFA Cup and National Team games.
Telstra will also become the exclusive telecommunications partner of the FFA under the deal, and a Technology Partner of all FFA properties including the Hyundai A-League, Caltex Socceroos and Westfield Matilda's.
David Gallop, FFA CEO, says that - thanks to the deal - more Australians than ever before would now have access to live football.
“Our media rights strategy was to deliver content to as many Australians as possible anywhere, anytime and this new partnership with Telstra delivers on that commitment, helping us offer many more people the chance to watch the Hyundai A-League, Westfield W-League, the FFA Cup and our national teams live,” said Mr Gallop.
Telstra saw unprecedented demand by sports-mad fans live streaming their favourite sporting games in 2017, with the audience subscribing to Telstra’s sporting apps increasing throughout the year, to over 1.5 million.
“We are enhancing the sports experience and shaping the way Australians are consuming sport. Customers now expect always-on ease of access, and deeper engagement with the game through their mobile devices, and we’re seeing strong continued growth of live streaming in 2018,” added Ms Pollard.
The App will be free to download, with live matches being unlocked via the Telstra Live Pass. This live, fast and data free inclusion will be available to all Telstra mobile customers. Non-Telstra customers can purchase a $99.99 annual Live Pass, $16.99 monthly Live Pass, $4.99 weekly Live Pass.
