It also showed classic matches from the Cricket Australia archives. Live content was available by linking the Optus Sport mobile app with the Cricket Australia App, but no live cricket content was available on the linear Optus Sport 2 channel. This arrangement with SBS was extended on 20 June 2018 to include all group stage games, with Optus additionally leaving their app and streaming services free for the duration of the World Cup and until 31 August 2018 while refunding all current paid subscriptions. Optus confirmed on 30 June 2025 that it would transfer Optus Sport’s remaining football rights – including the Premier League, FA Cup, Japan’s J1 League, and the NWSL – to Stan Sport, owned by Nine Entertainment. The first game of the tournament that was broadcast exclusively on Optus Sport, Egypt vs. Due to lack of quality ball, new Rabbitohs coach and former Melbourne assistant Michael Maguire shifted Inglis from the centres to his original position at fullback in the Round 3 game against the Penrith Panthers.
It was also available through apps on selected smart TVs and video game consoles such as PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Xbox One. This announcement also included the fact that one match per round would be sub-licensed to a Free-to-Air channel. The group, then less organised, was given its name by the Australian media during the 1994-95 Test series in Australia, reportedly for the fans’ hopeless audacity in travelling all the way to Australia in the near-certain knowledge that their team would lose, and the fact that they kept on chanting encouragement to the England team even when England were losing quite badly. He played 44 test matches and 103 ODIs for England. Going into the day’s play, both knew that this would be the last test laser247 match (Suggested Web page) either man would play on English soil. By close of play they were 134 for no loss. The following year Gloucestershire began to play matches at the Clifton College Close Ground in the grounds of Clifton College in the same part of the city, and this remained a regular venue for the county until the 1930s, hosting nearly 100 first-class matches. In October 2016, Optus Sport 2 began broadcasting ads with the tagline: ‘This summer is going to be big’, announcing the launch of a 24/7 Cricket channel on the channel for November 1, 2016, running until 28 February 2017. This was an extension of the existing Optus agreement with Cricket Australia that saw all Optus customers eligible for a Cricket Australia Live Pass.
Optus began to gradually add regional football competitions featuring Australian national teams, the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup and the 2016 AFF U-19 Youth Championship. To facilitate the transition, Optus Sport continued through the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 tournament (3-28 July 2025) and then ceased operations on 1 August 2025, from which date Stan Sport became the Australian broadcaster for the affected competitions. They also screened the semi-finals and final of the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. It was the main broadcaster of non-Australian soccer in Australia, broadcasting the English Premier League, FA Cup, J.League, K League, UEFA international matches and the Women’s Super League. Despite being the premier tournament in most regions, since the primary objective is to qualify to the World Cup, on some occasions teams have not participated due to qualifying to the finals automatically as hosts such as Brazil deferring from the 2007 CONMBEBOL Beach Soccer Championship and Tahiti in the 2013 OFC Beach Soccer Championship.
On 28 June 2018, Optus subsequently extended this arrangement to include all remaining matches at the World Cup. Bingemann, Mitchell (14 June 2017). “Seven to launch new catch-up TV service after Tahoo tweak”. Brettig, Daniel (28 August 2017). “Lyon’s persistence leaves only Warne ahead”. Cave, Damien; Glanz, James (August 22, 2007). “Toll in Iraq Bombings Is Raised to More Than 500”. The New York Times. Until 1 August 2025, Optus Sport was available for streaming via web browsers, the Optus Sport app on compatible smartphones and tablets including iOS and Android. In March 2016 it was announced the channels would be available through Fetch TV from Optus (rebranded as ‘Yes TV’), as well as through a dedicated app and website, with satellite coverage available for those without appropriate internet speeds or for commercial venues. Incumbent rights holder Fox Sports Australia reacted quickly to the news they had lost the rights, removing the $15/month add-on BeIN Sports pack, and adding the channels to the existing sports package. As per TAM, CCL was the second most viewed sporting league in the country due to its reach delivered through Colors in Hindi-speaking markets and Sun Network Channels in South India.
