Stan doubles down on Sports push with Wimbledon & Roland-Garros joining Rugby in 2021

2021 is set to be a fascinating year in the streaming world. Not only is Aussie streaming service Stan taking on the global giant of Netflix, but now, going head to head with Foxtel owned Kayo Sports.

Last month, Foxtel CEO Patrick Delaney indicated that Kayo would put some sport “in front of the paywall” in a bid to entice users to try the service out and perhaps gain faith in Sports via Streaming.

Perhaps we now know why. Negotiations to renew their Rugby Contract hadn’t gone well, and they likely knew what Nine was planning with Stan so on the front foot they went.

Well with Rugby in the bag for 2021, Stan has this morning announced Tennis is coming to Stan too!

Stan will become the new home for the Wimbledon and Roland-Garros Grand Slam tournaments. Every match, every court, live and on-demand, without any ads.

This strategy compliments the Nine Free to Air Tennis strategy, allowing Nine to ensure the Government Anti-Syphoning rules are kept in track with the Nine TV coverage, but gobbling up sports rights within their own business using Stan as a platform.

Mike Sneesby, CEO of Stan, said “With this announcement, Stan will become a home of Wimbledon and Roland-Garros in Australia — two of the world’s most prestigious tennis tournaments. Expanding our live streaming offer, sports fans can look forward to full coverage of both tournaments live & on demand, ad-free on Stan from 2021.”

Stan won’t be bumping up their prices to cater for this. Instead, there will be a new “Add on” Package for Sports fans, which will be available in 2021. No word yet on the pricing for that.