Pay-television broadcaster Sky New Zealand has confirmed a carriage deal with beIN Media Group that will result in club football competition the English Premier League returning to television screens in the country ahead of the 2016-17 season.
First reported in June, Sky said its agreement with beIN will result in the launch of a channel pack dedicated entirely to football.
Kicking off on August 9 ahead of the 2016-17 Premier League season, the beIN Sports tier will include two permanent and up to three beIN Sports pop-up channels.
The tier will be available to all Sky domestic customers with the basic package for NZ$11.96 (€7.6/$8.35) per month. BeIN Sports 1 will be a 24/7 dedicated Premier League channel broadcasting live games, highlights and studio shows.
BeIN Sports 2 will show the best of live European football from the Spanish LaLiga, English League Cup and Championship, as well as providing additional live games from the Uefa Champions League and Europa League to complement Sky’s existing coverage of these competitions.
Yousef Al-Obaidly, deputy chief executive of beIN Media Group, said: “The New Zealand beIN Sports channels will be a key component of our Asia Pacific presence and we are pleased to extend our relationship with Sky to bring these high quality channels to the market leading Sky platform.”
BeIN won the Premier League rights in New Zealand late last year, but has since been seeking to sublicense the rights to a local operator.