News and Telstra will retain a share of Foxtel following its $3.4 billion sale to UK-based sports streamer DAZN.
The founding partners are taking advantage of an opportunity to sell as sports rights-focussed DAZN – owned by Ukrainian-born billionaire Sir Leonard Blavatnik – seeks to expand into Australia.
News will emerge with six per cent of DAZN (which is pronounced ‘da-zone’) and Telstra about three per cent.
The deal ends News Corp’s 30-year ownership of Foxtel, which launched in 1995 and has recently moved its focus to streaming. However, Sky News Australia will continue to be owned by News Corp, although it will be broadcast by Foxtel.
The deal will see Foxtel repay loans to News Corp ($578 million) and Telstra, and is expected to go through “in the second half of fiscal 2025”.
Customers are unlikely to notice major changes, although an announcement said DAZN’s chief executive Shay Segev and his team would “work closely with Foxtel’s chief executive Patrick Delany and colleagues across the business to develop the company’s distinctive Australian character and to deliver locally-produced sports and entertainment content”.
The platform has rights to boxing fights in the US, UK and Saudi Arabia, and broadcasts the NFL, MMA and the UEFA Women’s Champions League in Australia. It also has football rights for Italy’s Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga and Spain’s La Liga, and made news recently paying about US$1 billion for exclusive global rights to next year’s FIFA Club World Cup.
Foxtel has 4.7 million subscribers, including 1.6 million for Kayo and 1.55 million for Binge.