Nine Entertainment (ASX:NEC) Extends Premier League Rights Through 2034

•Nine Entertainment has extended its Australian Premier League streaming and broadcast rights agreement for six seasons, from 2028-29 through 2033-34.

•Stan Sport’s EBITDA has increased from A$40 million in FY21 to A$81 million in FY26, with Premier League described as a key driver.

•The FY29 rights fee will be broadly in line with FY28, before scaling across the six-year period at an approximate 3% compound annual growth rate.

•Average Sport subscribers grew approximately 50% over the past 12 months, with Premier League cited as a key driver of that growth.

Six-Year Rights Extension Secured

Nine Entertainment Co. (ASX:NEC) has announced the extension of its Australian streaming and broadcast rights for the English Premier League for the six seasons from 2028-29 to 2033-34. The agreement covers all Australian streaming and broadcast rights for the Premier League — including both subscription and free-to-air — across a competition format of 38 match weeks over 41 calendar weeks, with 10 matches per week. The product is intended to be primarily available on Stan, with Nine’s other broadcast, media and outdoor Assets expected to be used to promote the sport and grow the audience.

Financial Structure of the Extension

The company indicated the FY29 rights fee will be broadly in line with the FY28 fee, before scaling through the six-year period. Across the duration of the contract, the fee is expected to increase at an approximate 3% compound annual growth rate, measured from the end of the current deal to the end of the new agreement. The absence of Optus contributions, which had been payable since Nine acquired the Premier League rights from Optus in 2025, will increase the net cost to Stan. However, Nine indicated this is expected to be offset by the removal of the subscription discount previously applied to legacy Optus subscribers as well as other cost-saving and Revenue initiatives.

Nine reported that Stan’s EBITDA more than doubled from A$40 million in FY21 to A$81 million in FY26, a period during which the Premier League was a key driver of Stan Sport growth. Average Sport subscriber numbers grew approximately 50% over the past 12 months. A deal with Optus Sport also supported a A$5 per month increase in the Stan Sport subscription rate in August 2025. The extension of the Premier League rights provides certainty to Stan Sport’s content offering through to the conclusion of the 2033-34 season.

Broader Sports Rights Portfolio

In addition to the Premier League, Nine’s sports rights portfolio includes the NRL and NRLW, all four Tennis Grand Slams, the Olympic Games, Rugby Union, the NBL and WNBL, Netball and other properties. The company described these partnerships as reflecting a long-term strategy of investing in premium live sport and delivering sporting events with broad audience relevance. The Premier League extension is positioned within this broader content strategy, which management described under the theme of “Sport that Unites”.

Context: Acquisition from Optus in 2025

Nine acquired the Australian Premier League rights from Optus Sport in 2025. The current announcement represents the first renewal of those rights under Nine’s ownership. The transition from Optus involved legacy subscriber discounting arrangements that will now be wound down as the new rights period approaches. The removal of these legacy discount structures is part of the financial rationale Nine has presented for maintaining the Economics of the extension despite the absence of Optus contributions.

Nine Entertainment (ASX:NEC) has secured a six-year extension of its Premier League rights in Australia through the 2033-34 season, with Stan as the primary delivery platform. The deal adds certainty to Stan Sport’s content portfolio, which the company credits as a key driver of Stan’s EBITDA growth from A$40 million to A$81 million over the past five financial years and 50% Sport subscriber growth over the past 12 months. The rights fee is expected to increase at approximately 3% CAGR across the contract duration.