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(Reuters) -Optus, Australia's No. 2 telecom carrier, is in talks to sell its sports streaming platform Optus Sport to media house Nine Entertainment, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported on Monday.
A deal would let Nine's local streaming service Stan stream matches from the Premier League, England's major club football league, while Singapore Telecommunications-owned Optus would focus on its core telecom assets, the report said.
The discussions began in the December quarter and are ongoing, the AFR said, citing sources with knowledge of the talks. AFR is owned by Nine Entertainment.
"All companies regularly review their businesses to ensure they are maximising value and realising their full potential – Optus is no different," an Optus spokesperson said by email.
Nine Entertainment declined to comment and SingTel did not immediately respond to a Reuters email for comments.
Optus Sport has exclusive streaming rights to the Premier League, which AFR estimated to be worth A$100 million ($62.2 million) per year, and the FA Cup, another English football tournament, until 2028.
Optus's revenue from subscription-based TV services in fiscal 2023-24 was A$75 million, which was less than 1% of its total operating revenue.
Stan already broadcasts prominent sports competitions, including the UEFA Champions League football and the Wimbledon tennis tournaments. Nine's other media properties include the Sydney Morning Herald and TV channel Nine Network.
Last month, British-owned sports network DAZN said it would buy cable-TV platform Foxtel from News Corp for A$3.4 billion, giving it the rights to the Australian Football League and the National Rugby League. The deal will close later this year. ($1 = 1.6088 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Aaditya Govind Rao in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Savio D'Souza)