‘I think we’ll see a lot of change this year’: Foxtel’s Patrick Delany pushes for regulatory reset

The Foxtel Group’s annual Canberra showcase visited the nation’s capital again last night with chief executive Patrick Delany and an entourage of media executives, actors, producers, sporting administrators and sports stars presenting the case for less regulation to members of parliament.

The most significant of those being targeted was perhaps Communications Minister Anika Wells. With both houses sitting, and overseas travel out of the question for the minister after the storm regarding her travel expenses, Wells was always a good chance of attending.

Speaking to Mumbrella before he started his presentation, Delany said: “We do this every year. We always have a different angle and the idea is to showcase what we do and make parliamentary Australia aware of it.”

In addition to a presentation from the CEO just above the Great Hall inside Parliament House, and two panel discussions, there was also some entertainment with a Supercars simulator and football games for the AFL and NRL.

Big ongoing content spend

Around 150 people attended the showcase

The familiar key message this year that was repeated several times during the evening: Foxtel believes it is over-regulated. This year Foxtel made a point of stressing its contribution to sports and drama funding.

“Every year we are the biggest non-government funder of sport in the country, by a huge margin,” Delany told Mumbrella.

“That’s because we spend a billion dollars every year on broadcast rights and production, and about $130m on production of everything from drama to news. It’s a huge amount of money.”

Delany added the Foxtel Group now reaches one in every two households in Australia via one of its platforms. “Our focus this year is to communicate the outcomes that those numbers create.

“Our business is entertainment and the outcomes secure partnerships. Those partnerships help grow fandom and fuel participation, and they sustain the financial health of leagues and clubs.

“Our investment flows through the whole system, back into Rugby League, AFL, netball, cricket, Supercars, to support athletes, but also pathways, grassroots, clubs, facilities, and participation.”

When asked if anyone from head office was confirming the ongoing content spend in Australia, Delanty shot back, “I am the head office.

“We are run by Australians in Australia. We’ve been owned by Dazn for a year, and we’re continuing to invest more in sport, produce more sports shows and productions, and produce more dramas and other entertainment. The confirmation [of continued content spend] is in our actions.

“We employ over 1,000 Australians and another 5,000 work with us, and we’re creating content together just for Australia.”

Dazn (pronounced “Da zone”) — a global sports streaming company owned by billionaire Len Blavatnik — completed its purchase of Foxtel in May 2025.

Foxtel has just this week confirmed development of a Wentworth spin-off as well as continuing the Colin From Accounts and High Country drama franchises.

Getting Foxtel right for Dazn is critical as it represents a quarter of the overall group. The news is good so far for the new owners, said Delany: “We’ve got significant subscribers, significant revenues and profitability.”

What does Foxtel want?

To ensure that the billion dollar plus content spend continues in Australia, Delany laid out what they are looking for from Canberra.

“There are two things – number one, that legislation that regulates Australian media keeps up with the 21st century, and makes sure that great Australian companies like us can compete with global giants.

“The second thing is that inside Australia there is a level playing field. Australians expect Australian media to be regulated the same way. We’ve still got a legacy of free-to-air having a leg up in Australia, even though the world’s moved on now with digital and pay playing a large part of how Australians consume.

“When you’re investing a billion dollars a year, and that’s grown dramatically in the last couple of years, we need to be able to compete with the global giants. We need to be able to compete to bring the best to Australian consumers.

“If we’re overregulated we can’t compete, and it’ll have a huge impact on our bottom line.”

Is the government listening?

Minister Anika Wells addresses the crowd

“A lot of Australian parliamentarians are now listening to what we have to say,” said Delany when asked how receptive the current government and minister are.

The Foxtel Group added former Labor communications minister Stephen Conroy on the board last year. “Stephen’s a big fan of sports,” Delany said. “He gives a voracious commentary on what’s going on with our products and our services and apps.”

The other Australian alongside Delany and Conroy on the Foxtel board is Amaysim founder Peter O’Connell. “He’s all over our finances and encouraging us to continue to invest.”

For its 6% shareholding in Foxtel, News Corp Australia gets a seat on the board — that person currently is Andrew Cramer, deputy global CFO, who is expected to be based back in Australia soon.

Pricing Kayo Sports and Binge

The Foxtel group has been using pricing as one of the levers as it continues to build Kayo Sports and Binge. The pricing of Kayo has been going up while the cost of Binge has been going down.

“It’s a factor of Binge participating in a very competitive drama streaming market,” said Delany about the Binge price drops. “It’s seeking to grow its subscriber base, which it’s doing.

“On the Kayo front, we didn’t put up the entry level price. That’s still $29.99, which is extraordinary value. It’s only the two streams package [that has increased]. That gives a subscriber two sports streams and 4K, so you’re still getting a discount on that.

“If you think back to 2005, sport was $50 a month on Foxtel. It’s now less than $50 a month 20 years later – great value for money. There’s nothing like Kayo in the world with 50 sports live.”

With Foxtel, Seven and more recently Nine Radio all being sold, does Delany think there could be continuing media mergers and takeovers?

“I think we’ll see a lot of change this year. We’re seeing it internationally, we’ll see it locally as the ultimate digital disruption continues. That’s another reason why we need a level playing field and policy settings and acknowledgements that help us compete in this country.”

Who was there

The total Canberra audience this year was estimated at around 150 with ministers, parliamentarians and stars from the Foxtel’s group sport and drama output.

The evening was hosted by Fox Sports presenter Jessica Yates

Key politicians in the room included Anika Wells, Minister for Communications and Sport and Melissa McIntosh, Shadow Minister for Communications. They were joined by Attorney General Michelle Rowland, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Special Envoy for the Arts Susan Templeman, Mark Butler, Julie Collins, Madeleine King, Senator Ross Cadell, and Bridget McKenzie.

The Delany panel featured AFL CEO Andrew Dillon, NRL CEO Andrew Abdo, AFLW player Ruby Schleicher and cricketer David Warner

Another panel was moderated by Jess Yates and featuring Easy Tiger Co-CEO Rob Gibson (makers of Colin From Accounts), actor Helen Thomson (Colin) and Foxtel group director of scripted Lana Greenhalgh as they spoke about sharing Australian stories with the world

Other Foxtel executives in the room included executive director entertainment, Daniel Monaghan, and MD of Fox Sports Steve Crawley, CEO of Kayo Sports and Binge Hilary Perchard, Foxtel Media CEO Mark Frain, Fox Sports head of content acquisitions Adam Howarth, Fox Sports executive producer Joe Bromham, and new executive director of corporate affairs Brian Walsh.

Other sporting talent in attendance included (AFL) Jason Dunstall, Tom Hawkins, Jordan Lewis, (Netball) Cath Cox, Bianca Chatfield, (cricket) Mike Hussey, (Supercars) Mark Skaife, Garth Tander and Molly Taylor, (NRL) Matty Johns, Braith Anasta and Keiran Foran, and (Netball) Tayla Fraser.

Actors helping lobby the guests included Genevieve Hegney (Colin from Accounts), Emma Lung and Mary Coustas (Strife) and Sara Wiseman (High Country)

Other sport executives in attendance included AFL COO Tom Harley, AFL EGM customer & commercial, Bec Haagsma, AFL EGM corporate affairs, Sharon McCrohan, cricket Australia chief commercial officer Ed Sanders, NBL CEO David Stevenson, Supercars CEO James Warburton, Netball Australia CEO Stacey West and Netball World Cup Sydney 2027 CEO Mark Falvo.

Production company executives in attendance included Easy Tiger Co-CEO Ian Collie, BBC Studios president, media & streaming, APAC Robi Stanton, Fremantle Australia CEO Greg Woods and Fremantle Australia head of scripted Carly Heaton.

The big team representing Fox Sports included Jess Yates and Steve Crawley (front row left) and Matty Johns (front row right)