Spark Sport Partner with SKY

MEDIA RELEASE
30 July 2019
Spark Sport partner with SKY to show Rugby World Cup 2019™ in commercial premises
Spark Sport and SKY announce that commercial premises that want to show Rugby World
Cup 2019™ will be able to buy access to a Spark Sport pop-up channel on their SKY decoder.
This is in addition to Spark Sport’s existing offer to commercial customers to stream Rugby
World Cup matches from the Spark Sport app over their broadband connection.
As announced in April, commercial customers can purchase a Spark Sport Rugby World Cup
Tournament Pass at the consumer price through sparksport.co.nz/rwc2019. This option
gives both consumer and commercial customers access to all 48 matches live and on
demand, plus access to a range of highlights and archive matches.
Additionally, from today, SKY commercial customers can buy access to a Spark Sport RWC
pop-up channel through SKY, which includes all 48 matches live. Commercial customers can
access the pop-up channel for a one-off cost at commercial rates. Rates are confidential but
reflect the quality and scale of the event.
Under the terms of the partnership, Spark will cover the costs of SKY establishing the pop-up
channel and will receive all related revenue from SKY commercial customers.
David Chalmers, Executive Lead for Spark Sport, explains, “After testing in a wide range of
commercial environments, we are confident in the Spark Sport streaming service that we
are making available for commercial premises. But we also wanted to provide an alternative
option for venues that would prefer to use their existing infrastructure, particularly for
those locations without streaming-ready broadband connectivity.
“This partnership with SKY means that commercial businesses which already have SKY set up
in their premises have options for how they screen the tournament, to ensure that as many
commercial premises around New Zealand as possible can show the Rugby World Cup in its
entirety.”
Sophie Moloney, SKY’s Strategic Partnerships lead, said that “Watching the Rugby World
Cup is a special activity for many New Zealanders, and a big part of the sports calendar for
pubs and clubs throughout the country. We are pleased to be able to work together with
Spark to deliver this alternative access option for our commercial customers, including those
in rural areas who don’t yet have access to fast enough broadband.”
ENDS
Notes to editor
Commercial customers who want to show the RWC from SKY should contact SKY Business
on 0800 759 333.
Commercial customers who want to show the RWC on Spark Sport can get information on
how to stream in their premises and purchase their Tournament Pass here.

For further information contact:
Ellie Cross
Corporate Relations Partner, Spark
Ellie.Cross@spark.co.nz
+64 22 630 0665
Kristy Martin
Media Engagement Manager, Sky
Kristy.Martin@sky.co.nz
+64 21 840 018