Foxtel has told customers it is raising the price of its subscription TV packages just days after announcing a multi-billion dollar deal to retain the broadcast rights to the NRL.
The price of Foxtel Plus, the entry-level package for cable customers, as well as its premium package will rise by $5 on September 1, it informed its subscribers this week.
The company did not say that it will be increasing the cost of subscriptions to its digital Kayo sport streaming service, after it upped the price of Kayo Premium earlier this year.
The NRL announced its record-breaking $5.3 billion broadcast deal last week, with Foxtel paying the major share of the cost and far more than it contributed to the previous rights agreement. Nine, which owns this masthead, will remain the free-to-air partner, paying significantly less.
When announcing the deal last week, Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys said he wanted to ensure fans of the game did not pay the price for the massive jump in broadcast fees.
“I am a migrant kid from Wollongong. I never forgot my roots, and I ensured that the price point will be protected,” he said.
“It’s commercially sensitive, naturally. But all I know is DAZN [Foxtel’s owner] is a brilliant partner. They are professional. They honour their word and this is no different.”
Foxtel boss Patrick Delany said at the same press conference that he was focussed on affordability and argued that his company could add more subscribers to manage the cost of the NRL rights.
“We’re completely aligned in making sure it’s affordable,” Delany said. “I think we’ve got a good track record. It is very well priced.”
Industry sources believe Foxtel, as opposed to Kayo, has around one million paying customers. Customers of Foxtel’s cable service are far more lucrative than those paying for either Binge or Kayo.
Subscription streaming services often increase the price for customers in line with the rising cost of sports rights. When Nine secured the rights to the English Premier League for its Stan Sport service last year, it too upped prices.
More to come.
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Calum Jaspan is a media writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in Melbourne. Reach him securely on Signal @calumjaspan.10Connect via X or email.From our partners
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