The Oceania Football Confederation, football’s governing body in the region, has said that a bid from pay-television broadcaster Sky New Zealand to acquire rights for the upcoming Nations Cup national team tournament was submitted too late.
The governing body added that it had already committed funds towards promoting its live streaming service, OFC TV, which will be the only way fans in the country will be able to watch live action from the tournament.
“OFC can confirm Sky TV submitted a late proposal that matched the criteria met by other broadcasters across the Pacific and further afield,” the governing body said. “Unfortunately this proposal was too late to accept, taking into consideration the extra investment OFC TV has made to set up and promote live streaming to ensure New Zealand fans could have access to the matches after Sky TV initially indicated they would not agree to terms. OFC’s media agency MP & Silva offered broadcasters the rights to the tournament more than six weeks ago.”
The OFC TV service will be available via the Oceania Football website, with single matches available for NZ$2.99 per match (€1.78 / $2.28) and a package for the entire tournament priced at NZ$19.99.
Sky told the Fairfax news agency: “We are disappointed the OFC didn’t award us the TV rights [and the] OFC and its media partners are exploring other options.”