New Zealand football fans have another season of action-packed football in store, as the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) and Sky confirm that the upcoming three seasons of the A-Leagues will be available to watch exclusively on Sky.
The extension of the partnership means that all matches in the Isuzu UTE A-League Men (kicking off 18 October) and Ninja A-League Women (kicking off 1 November) will play on Sky Sport and streaming on Sky Sport Now and Sky Go. All matches featuring a New Zealand team will be broadcast live and one match a week will be shared free to air on Sky Open.
Sky customers will enjoy wall-to-wall coverage in the upcoming season, as the Wellington Phoenix men and women look to build on their best ever seasons and Auckland FC men’s makes its much-anticipated debut, giving Aotearoa its first professional football derby.
The 25/26 season will then see the introduction of the forthcoming Auckland FC women’s team, setting up a second Kiwi rivalry with the Phoenix women and ensuring an action-packed schedule of New Zealand teams across the two Leagues.
Football is New Zealand’s most popular sport, with more participants than any other code, and a rapidly growing fanbase driven by the sport’s global popularity and the continued growth of the A-Leagues locally.
With football growing in participation across Aotearoa, Sophie Moloney, CEO at Sky, explained why Sky is so pleased to extend this partnership: “Last year’s season was a breakout success for fan engagement with the A-Leagues in New Zealand, with the success of the Wellington Phoenix capturing the hearts and minds of Kiwi fans. Added to that, the excitement surrounding the addition to the leagues of a new team from Aotearoa in Auckland FC has made the upcoming season guaranteed to be appointment-watching”.
“We’re pleased that we will continue to be the broadcast home to a passionate and growing sporting code, spearheaded here in Aotearoa by a couple of really energised and ambitious local clubs. We’re excited to see what we can achieve together in terms of innovation around commercial partnerships as part of our home games production, alongside our broadcast coverage of every single minute of action”.
“New Zealand is really important for our continued growth, and it’s set to be a landmark year for New Zealand football following Wellington Phoenix’s standout season and the introduction of a new team, Auckland FC, into the Isuzu UTE A-League Men,” said Nick Garcia, A-Leagues Commissioner.
“Sky Sport is a world-class partner, and we are thrilled to extend our partnership and deliver more A-Leagues action – with one match broadcast free-to-air each week – to entertain New Zealand’s passionate football community and support our ambition to grow the game across the country”.
“Today’s announcement is another endorsement of the strength and ongoing growth of football in New Zealand. Thanks to Sky, fans across the country will get even closer to the game, to our club and to our players. We look forward to seeing our first ever match in every Kiwi home on October 19,” said Nick Becker, CEO of Auckland FC.
“Sky’s live broadcasts are unrivalled: they’ve done a great job of capturing the emotion of our passionate fans for the past 17 years. With the arrival of Auckland FC this season, there will be more local interest in the A-League than ever before, so it’s fantastic there will be one match a week free-to-air on Sky Open,” said David Dome, general manager of Wellington Phoenix.
