OPTUS SECURES RIGHTS TO INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONS CUP

Optus expands football offering with exclusive live rights to pre-season global football tournament.

Optus today expanded its football offering by securing the broadcast and digital rights to fifteen exclusive matches and three simulcast matches of the pre-season International Champions Cup (ICC) tournament. The agreement with Channel Nine comes as Optus continues to broaden its growing football offering, with customers now able to view a host of top-flight football matches from across the world.

Watched by over 1 million fans world-wide, the International Champions Cup is the premier pre-season football tournament that brings Europe’s best clubs to the United States, China and Australia, including Premier League giants Leicester City, Liverpool FC, La Liga winners, Barcelona FC and Ligue 1 winners, Paris Saint-German.

Ben White, Managing Director, Marketing and Products at Optus said, “We know that football fans want the ability to see football matches live when they happen, not on long delay. Securing the live rights to the International Champions Cup further demonstrates Optus’ commitment to delivering exciting live football experiences to our customers.”

Optus will broadcast 15 matches from the US/Europe leg of the popular tournament starting from the 23 July 2016, which customers will be able to view exclusively live on Optus Sport. This will be the first tournament to be shown on the new Optus Sport content platforms ahead of the Premier League launch in August.

Customers will also be able to view the China leg of the tour from 22 July, which will be broadcast on Optus Sport and Channel Nine’s broadcast and digital channels. Channel Nine retains the rights to the three Australian matches that will be played in Melbourne in July.

Bringing fans closer the action

Customers who have signed up to an EPL subscription on an EPL eligible plan will have access to Optus’ coverage of the ICC tournament as part of their package:

• Watch the best clubs in Europe as they compete for the ICC title with matches including Liverpool vs. Barcelona and Bayern Munich vs. Real Madrid. This year’s participating clubs have won more than 200 domestic league titles between them.

• Be the first to the action with exclusively live US/Europe leg matches for eligible Optus customers.

• Enjoy exciting content at your fingertips as Optus brings customers closer to the action with the brand new Optus Sport TV and App platforms for a high quality viewing experience whether they are streaming on their phone or tablet through the app or viewing at home on TV.

• Be part of the conversation: Optus customers can join over 1 million fans that are expected to attend the ICC matches to get behind their favourite European teams. The tournament was also watched at home by fans in over 165 territories across the world last year.

“This partnership, teamed with the ability to view and access high quality content across multiple platforms with our new Optus Sport offering, makes Optus an attractive option for customers as we continue to bring them closer to the action with game-changing football content through the likes of the EPL, the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Confederations Cup,” Mr White said.

ICC Matches to be shown live by Optus are as follows:

China* All Live

Friday, July 22                     Shanghai          Manchester United v. Dortmund

Monday, July 25                  Beijing              Manchester City v. Manchester United

Thursday, July 28                 Shenzhen          Dortmund v. Manchester City

USA/Europe All Exclusively Live

Saturday, July 23                 Glasgow           Celtic FC v. Leicester City

Sunday July 24                    Orlando            PSG v. Inter Milan

Wednesday, July 27             Columbus         Real Madrid v. PSG

Wednesday, July 27             Chicago            Bayern v. AC Milan

Wednesday, July 27             Pasadena         Liverpool v. Chelsea

Saturday, July 30                 Dublin              Barcelona v. Celtic

Saturday, July 30                 Ann Arbor,        Chelsea v Real Madrid

Saturday, July 30                 Charlotte,          Bayern v. Inter

Saturday, July 30                 Santa Clara,      Liverpool v. AC Milan

Saturday, July 30                 Los Angeles     PSG v. Leicester City

Wednesday, August 3          Stockholm        Barcelona v. Leicester City

Wednesday, August 3          New York          Bayern v. Real

Wednesday, August 3          Minneapolis      Chelsea v. AC Milan

Saturday August 6               London             Liverpool v. Barcelona

Saturday, August 13            Limerick            Celtic v. Inter

ICC Matches played Australia will be shown by Channel Nine:

Saturday, July 23                 Melbourne        Melbourne Victory FC v. Juventus

Saturday August 6               Melbourne        Juventus v. Tottenham Hotspur

Saturday, August 13            Melbourne        Tottenham Hotspur v. Atlético de Madrid

Media contact:

Gabrielle Crittenden

Optus Corporate Affairs

(02) 8082 7850

media@optus.com.au