Foxtel faces ESPN renewal, sports rights crunch as News Corp mulls sale
Foxtel’s carriage deal with the popular US sports network is expiring, marking the first of several rights risks as parent company News Corp considers a potential sale.
Foxtel is facing the prospect of losing a crucial basket of sports rights up for renegotiation over the next 12 months as its controlling shareholder News Corp canvasses interest in a possible sale of the business.
The pay TV operator is set to renegotiate a deal with Disney for US sports network ESPN in the next 12 months, according to a source familiar with the agreement. The deal was extended on “multi-year” terms last July.
The deal gives Foxtel rights to offer its pay-TV subscribers the ESPN channel, as well as streaming rights to a grab-bag of major US sporting codes, including the NBA, NFL, NHL, UFC, and other college sports for subscribers to Foxtel’s standalone sports streamer, Kayo.
The carriage agreement is set to be renegotiated in the thick of Disney’s plans to roll out its ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming service in global markets following a US launch as early as August next year.
