A-League football club Wellington Phoenix has agreed a rights deal with pay-television broadcaster Sky New Zealand for its Football United Tour event.
The competition will include the Phoenix and A-League counterpart Sydney FC competing against English Premier League clubs Newcastle United and West Ham United in Auckland, Dunedin and Wellington in July.
Sky’s pay-per-view service Sky Arena will broadcast the competition in New Zealand, with Phoenix general manager David Dome stating the deal is a crucial part of financing the event.
“The assistance of Sky is fundamental for the tournament,” he said. “The cost of bringing two English Premier League teams out to New Zealand is large and pay-per-view can help us mitigate the risk.”
Dome added: “We want fans from outside Dunedin, Auckland and Wellington to be able to access the matches for a good price. However, we also know from the A-League that live televised sport contributes to people staying at home and watching the game on TV and we want to encourage fans to turn out for these two teams and create a really special atmosphere for them. We believe that at NZ$24.99 (€16/$21) per game and NZ$39.95 for the Tour we’ve got a good balance between the two objectives.”
The Phoenix added that the Football United Tour will also be broadcast in Australia, the UK, Ireland, France, Norway, Portugal, the Balkans, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, China, Indonesia, North America and Canada, Mexico, Middle East and North Africa, Israel and South Africa.