PREMIER LEAGUE 2018/19 GETS UNDERWAY THIS WEEKEND ON OPTUS SPORT

The 2018/19 Premier League season kicks off this Saturday morning Australian time, with the opening round featuring reigning  champions Manchester City taking on Arsenal in a must-watch match.

In addition to the Premier League, Optus Sport will be showing an enormous range of football this season, which later this month will include the UEFA Super Cup between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid and the play-offs to determine the final spots for the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League.

“With the addition of new content, we are excited to be bringing more than double the live content to Optus Sport customers; reinforcing the company’s objective to be the home of elite European football in Australia,” Optus’ Head of TV and Content Corin Dimopoulos said.

“We were obviously disappointed with some customer experiences during the FIFA World Cup but we made a number of improvements to our systems after those issues occurred and finished the World Cup with 20 consecutive evenings where our video delivery systems and platforms were stable.

“We routinely compare our underlying streaming metrics to leading industry benchmarks and our teams are continuing to work hard to enhance the streaming experience even further for our customers.

“Like any streaming service, it is important to note good mobile or WiFi network coverage will enhance the viewer experience.”

In addition to live matches during the upcoming season, Optus Sport will live-host select matches, make select matches available on demand and transmit preview and review shows for major competitions such as the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Nations League and UEFA Europa League.

“We will also continue to tap into a range of expert commentators, hosts and analysts to complement our live matches,” Dimopoulos added.

“Right now we can confirm former Socceroo Mark Schwarzer, former Leeds United and Newcastle Jets player Michael Bridges as well as our own on-air host Richard Bayliss will continue to be part of our football coverage.”

To access all of these new rights, including UEFA Euro 2020, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa Cup, UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Nations League and Nations League Finals, customers will need to subscribe to Optus Sport, while Optus Sport remains the only place to watch every match of the Premier League live.

Optus continues to provide Optus Sport to all Australians at no cost until August 31, 2018. 

Optus Sport’s Premier League schedule for this weekend (dates/times listed for viewing in Australia):

Saturday August 11

-          5am Manchester United v Leicester

-          9.30pm Newcastle v Spurs

Sunday August 12

-          12am Bournemouth v Cardiff

-          12am Fulham v Crystal Palace

-          12am Huddersfield v Chelsea

-          12am Watford v Brighton

-          2.30am Wolves v Everton

-          10.30pm Liverpool v West Ham

-          10.30pm Southampton v Burnley

Monday August 13

-          1am Arsenal v Manchester City

Optus Sport’s confirmed scheduling for August and September is as follows (dates listed for viewing in Australia):

AUGUST

-          Premier League - starts August 11 and continues through the month

-          UEFA Super Cup Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - August 17

-          UEFA Champions League play-offs – matches played on 22/23 and 29/30 August

SEPTEMBER

-          Nations League Matchday 1 including Germany v France and England v Spain -  7, 8 and 9 September

-          Nations League Matchday 2 including France v Netherlands, Portugal v Italy and Spain v Croatia -  11, 12 and 13 September

-          Premier League continues during whole month

-          Selected UEFA International Friendlies

-          UEFA Champion League Group stage, Matchday 1 – September 19/20

-          UEFA Europa League Group stage, Matchday 1 -  September 21

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Media contact:

Tara White

Optus Corporate Affairs

(02) 8082 7850                                         

media@optus.com.au