Foxtel acquires Diamond League rights in Australia

Australian pay-television broadcaster Foxtel has secured multi-platform rights to the 2020 Diamond League international athletics series.

The inventory includes 15 events across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the US.

Foxtel will exploit the rights on Fox Sports, showing selected events live, across its Foxtel, Foxtel Go and Foxtel Now platforms as well as dedicated sports OTT platform Kayo Sports.

The first event of the year will be held in Doha, Qatar on April 17, with the last event in Zurich, Switzerland on September 11.

The IMG agency holds the global distribution rights to the Diamond League until 2024 in a deal with rights-holder World Athletics (formerly the International Association of Athletics Federations). The Infront agency will take on the distribution rights from 2025 to 2029. Its owner, Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group, is the competition’s title sponsor from 2020.

Pan-regional sports broadcaster Eurosport previously held the rights in Australia to the Diamond League.

The Foxtel deal means that Diamond League will continue to be available on its platform after Foxtel opted in December not to renew its carriage deal for Eurosport, which has moved to the Fetch platform.