Foxtel is Australia’s primary source of TV entertainment, serving as much as 70% of all Australian homes. Aussies are often considered to be one of the most sports-obsessed people. Thus, Foxtel has 8 channels dedicated to Sports alone among which Foxtel Now is the most popular. However, the time-honored service has a new contender in town that gained massive viewership in sports fandom – Kayo. Read on as we get down to the nitty-gritty of both services and which one is best for Sports fans.
Australians, despite being a sports-savvy nation, didn’t have many options other than Foxtel to meet their needs a while ago. Other sports like Major Basketball have dedicated streaming services, but only a few of them are available in Australia. And that too requires users to sign up for an online streaming service like Hulu or DirecTV. For AFL and NRL fans, Telstra has been offering dedicated streaming services for many years, but the shortcoming is that the service is restricted to small screens.
For as long as anyone can remember, Foxtel has been doing a remarkable job in serving the Australian Sports community with an abundance of sports content. And now, with the addition of Kayo Sports, the game has changed for good.
So which service is well worth your money? Let’s dig it down.
Foxtel is serving sports entertainment (both cord-free and traditional) through a variety of channels. Foxtel has eight channels (with one each dedicated to AFL, Cricket, Rugby League, and Motorsport), belN Sports, Eurosport and Racing.com. Some (not all) also include Red Bull TV programs. Here are three different ways you can access these channels using a Foxtel-affiliated service.
See Also – How to Watch Foxtel Go Overseas in 2024
You can get the traditional cable TV network for your homes like the majority of people with the latest IQ4 box that offers 4K streaming and local recording.
Your traditional Foxtel subscription comes with a Foxtel Go app by default, which enables you to watch your favorite sports content on the go.
Foxtel Now is one of the widely watched services. A standalone service that comes as a great alternative to the traditional Foxtel experience without the hefty cost of an IQ4 Box. It can be easily accessed with an app or a small Foxtel Now Box.
Streaming sports on Foxtel Now doesn’t come without a catch. When you pay for the entry-level “Essentials” pack, you get access to 12 channels that offer general entertainment (not sports-specific), with the Fix Showcase channel worth mentioning here. For the Sports Plan, you have to spare a few more bucks.
Foxtel Now offers a variety of bundles that include sports channels, but there isn’t a standalone “Sports Plan” in 2024. Here’s a breakdown of each plan :
| Bundle Name | Description | Price (as of 2024) |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials + Sports | Essentials + Sports HD | $29 per month |
| Premium Bundle | Essentials, Drama & Comedy, Sports HD | $49 per month |
| Platinum Plus Bundle | All Foxtel Now Channels | $89 per month |
The above plans may seem a little on the higher end of the price range but offer as much as the value that you could get out of a sports streaming service. You get access to all 13 of Foxtel’s sports-specific channels. However, the Fox Footy channel has been replaced by Footy play due to the recent AFL rights issue.
Kayo has emerged as a disruptive force that has taken online sports streaming to another level. It works quite differently than Foxtel. Instead of hosting multiple sports channels, it offers a simple menu with all of your favorite sports content, including on-demand replays of completed events and, of course, live coverage
Being part of the same company, Kayo’s primary source of sports content is Foxtel, with the distinction of having a dedicated sports front. All you need to do is choose your favorite sports on the screen and let Kayo do the rest. Whether it’s AFL and NRL, Tennis, Basketball, MotoGP, or cricket, if it’s happening live, you can watch it on Kayo.
Another merit worth mentioning here is that even if you miss a live stream, you can always come back later and watch it right from the start. On the other hand, you have to helplessly wait for the replays on Foxtel Now to be made available or rely on the mercy of free-to-air service to catch a highlight or a replay. With Kayo, the replay is available as soon as the game sets off. So, even while the game is still ongoing, you can choose to watch from the very beginning. Here’s a list of the available sports streams on Kayo.
Features like picture-in-picture, choose your camera, skip to key moments, and SplitView offers an unparalleled sports streaming experience.
Kayo Sports offers two main subscription plans in 2024, with a recent price increase implemented in February:
Kayo Basic:
Kayo One:
Additional Information:
The only shortcoming of Kayo is that it only allows HD streaming while Foxtel offers 4k resolution with its latest IQ4 box.
Kayo offers sports and nothing more. So if you’re a hardcore sports fan who doesn’t fancy general entertainment, Kayo is your best bet. It provides more sports content than you could ever consume in a relatively much cheaper price range than Foxtel. However, if you like to occasionally indulge in streaming content other than sports, Foxtel is what you need to sign up for.