Foxtel gets a short term Disney-ESPN deal

afr.com:

Foxtel chief executive Patrick Delany can exhale a little. The pay TV company struck a deal last week with ESPN to continue as the local go-to broadcaster for top sport played in the United States.

Foxtel announced the deal on Wednesday morning with little fanfare and scant detail – issuing a press release which said the distribution deal was a “new multi-year” agreement to keep broadcasting the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL and UFC in Australia. The release also carried a statement from Kylie Watson Wheeler, the local head of Disney, the parent company of ESPN.

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will remain on Australian TVs through a new deal between Foxtel and ESPN. AP

When asked about the length of the deal, Foxtel said that even disclosing how many years it involved was commercial-in-confidence. But industry sources suggest the agreement was for about two years.

That’s a mini coup because the value proposition of Kayo – Foxtel’s sports streamer – hinges on having all key sport under one roof. The company signed a long-term deal with the AFL last year and now with the US sport, the NRL will be up next. As part of the announcement, Foxtel said Kayo now had 1.3 million subscribers.

Delany was able to secure a deal with Warner Bros Discovery-owned HBO earlier this year, which made sure Binge remains the home of Succession, White Lotus and Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon – for now.

Foxtel’s executives are on a streak, nailing down the most valuable content they licence, surely pleasing potential investors if they ever get around to the often-rumoured – and long-delayed – plans to list on the ASX.

But apart from the mammoth AFL deal, these agreements are hardly stable planks on the Foxtel ship. An agreement of