Optus has announced a new offer for new and existing customers to watch the English Premier League (EPL) for free when they sign up for selected plans.

Those who sign up to Optus plans and subscribe to the Premier League will get the matches for free. The offer is only available until July 31, otherwise it’s back to the full price of $15 a month.

Soccer fans were up in arms the other week when the Aussie telco revealed its pricing plan for the EPL that saw only Optus customers able to have full access to all the games.

The telco shelled out a whopping $63 million annually for the exclusive rights to the matches for three years, but without its own channel ended up doing a deal with SBS to show some games and offered customers the chance to pay $15 for an add-on package for subscription TV service Fetch TV to see all the games.

A horde of angry EPL fans were unleashed when they realised they would have to sign up to the telco to watch the games, with communications director for consumer advocacy group Choice, Matt Levey, saying Optus had “bungled” this one up.

“Telcos need to realise that the days of locking Australians out of the international market for content are over. It they over charge, consumers will seek out more competitive prices overseas,” Levey told the ABC in May.

However, at the time Ben White, who was recently promoted to head of product marketing, said he was confident consumers would make the switch to Optus to watch the games.

“We’re confident that when these fans see our range of great value EPL-ready plans, they’ll be convinced that now’s the right time to switch,” he said.

“And for those not quite ready to make that extra commitment, we also have a great postpaid BYO mobile plan that will provide access to the EPL.”

Still, this morning White issued a statement along with the new offer saying customers who aren’t with Optus can add a mini Fetch TV device to their plans for $5 a month.

“We understand that some customers either can’t or don’t want to change their broadband providers, but still want the Premier League,” he said.

“The mini device is a great alternative because it works on any fixed internet service in Australia and gives fans access to the Premier League live and on demand via the big screen.”

Want to learn more about sports marketing? Give this little link a click and find out more about our spectacular Ministry of Sports Marketing conference coming up on July 19. It’s one not to be missed.