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A deal has already been reached with New Zealand Cricket.
Spark has confirmed that it is exiting the sports streaming market.
Spark said TVNZ would take over most Spark Sport content from July 1 next year, subject to the agreement with the rights holder.
An agreement has already been reached with New Zealand Cricket meaning that TVNZ will cancel all Black Caps, White Ferns and Super Smash matches hosted by New Zealand Cricket for three years from the start of the 2023/24 cricket season until the start of the 2023/24 cricket season. end of the 2025/26 season.
In making the decision to exit the sports streaming market, Spark noted that rising content rights costs and a wider range of investment opportunities across the company were key drivers of the decision.
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The Spark Sport platform licensed from iStreamPlanet will no longer be made available for use by third parties in the second half of 2023, requiring Spark to invest in a new platform and customers to transition to continue using the service.
Chief executive Julie Hodson said Spark would “work with our people” to look for redeployment opportunities across the company.
“Since entering the sports streaming market in 2019, together with our valued partners we have been delivering a wide range of high quality sports content to our customers across Aotearoa. With New Zealand Cricket we have successfully produced three seasons of world-class cricket matches in New Zealand, increasing cricket viewership, particularly among a younger crowd, and increasing the quality and quantity of women’s cricket coverage – and we are proud of those shared achievements,” said CEO Jolie Hodson.
“At the same time, it has been challenging to achieve the scale we were aiming for on the Spark Sport platform, with Covid causing major disruption to sporting codes worldwide just a year after its launch. That slower-than-expected start, coupled with the rising cost of content rights worldwide, makes it difficult to justify the kind of investment Spark Sport needs when we have a wider range of investment opportunities across our wider business.
“We have been working with TVNZ as our cricket free-to-air partner since winning the rights, and this new partnership will provide New Zealanders with the largest volume of top-tier free sports content in the last 20 years. offer. while we can share the cost as we exit the sports streaming market.
“No new venture is without risk, and we recognize that this news will be disappointing to our valued customers and partners, and the dedicated Spark Sport team.
“We are communicating with our Spark Sport customers today to thank them for their support, to explain the change and to reassure them that they can continue to access Spark Sport as they normally do until July 1, 2023.”
More to come