When speaking about Kayo it's worth remembering it's really Kayo/Foxtel. Kayo wouldn't exist without the rights investment from the wider Foxtel Group and it's traditional STB revenue. I can't see Kayo bidding hundred's of millions of dollars per annum on premium domestic AFL, NRL & Cricket rights - at least without taking on ridiculous debt levels if they were a separate business.
The alternate sports OTT offering you mention sounds a darn side similar to ESPN's traditional rights portfolio in this market. To be fair Foxtel have been very smart to tie ESPN & beIN Sport to their service and effectively deliver this content to users as Kayo's own. However, any loss of those partners in the future would drastically devalue to broad offering Kayo has, and make those investments in premium domestic sport even more important to holding their #1 position. I'm sure they're keeping them well inside the tent!
I think in the future ESPN could be a key strategic player in a different alliance in ANZ - it's not like Disney aren't afraid of making tough business decisions in this region, look at their closure of their Fox channels business in Asia earlier this year.
I also can't see in practice how a new service would be able to secure all those sports rights given the intense competition between Foxtel, Stan/NEC and all the new players, plus Amazon and DAZN sitting in the wings. Rights cycles between codes aren't aligned either, so it's nigh on impossible to build that portfolio by stealth and prior to launch.
Hi Ben,
When speaking about Kayo it's worth remembering it's really Kayo/Foxtel. Kayo wouldn't exist without the rights investment from the wider Foxtel Group and it's traditional STB revenue. I can't see Kayo bidding hundred's of millions of dollars per annum on premium domestic AFL, NRL & Cricket rights - at least without taking on ridiculous debt levels if they were a separate business.
The alternate sports OTT offering you mention sounds a darn side similar to ESPN's traditional rights portfolio in this market. To be fair Foxtel have been very smart to tie ESPN & beIN Sport to their service and effectively deliver this content to users as Kayo's own. However, any loss of those partners in the future would drastically devalue to broad offering Kayo has, and make those investments in premium domestic sport even more important to holding their #1 position. I'm sure they're keeping them well inside the tent!
I think in the future ESPN could be a key strategic player in a different alliance in ANZ - it's not like Disney aren't afraid of making tough business decisions in this region, look at their closure of their Fox channels business in Asia earlier this year.
I also can't see in practice how a new service would be able to secure all those sports rights given the intense competition between Foxtel, Stan/NEC and all the new players, plus Amazon and DAZN sitting in the wings. Rights cycles between codes aren't aligned either, so it's nigh on impossible to build that portfolio by stealth and prior to launch.