As a true kiwi at heart, you don’t want to miss out on the Rugby Union, National Provincial Championship matches, followed by some cricket and football action by the fall end of 2022.
However, you can check out howtostream.co.nz and catch most of the action live inside your homes while you laze on your lounger.
Kiwis are indeed true sports lovers at heart, and their love for rugby has no bounds. Besides, a true New Zealander likes to spend some time outdoors. And when the winter comes, they like to watch the sports with some Jaffa cakes and fried chicken on the side.
List of Best Sports Streaming Services in New Zealand
The list includes all the basic features and price plans of some major streaming services:
Sky Sport
It is the easiest, most known, and subscribed service in New Zealand. The channel started as Sky Sports 1 in 1990, with limited time slots on Sky UHF. Later in July 1991, the service launched as 24-hours sports transmission, showing a direct feed of ESPN, a certain allotted time during a week.
Currently, Sky Sports has ten channels under the umbrella of Sky Sports that cover various global and regional sports events.
Meanwhile, a channel, Sky Sports News, was specifically launched to cover all news across the globe. But due to the pandemic, the channel rebranded Sky Sports Select with a focus on sporting events and news.
It is a convenient service for users to subscribe for a month. The service has monthly charges and is available for 31 days regardless of the days in the calendar month.
If you wish to unsubscribe from the service, go to the website and discontinue the service before the renewal date; else, it automatically renews on the renewal date.
Service Type: Pay-per-view
Cost: $39.99 per month
DAZN Sports
DAZN is a global platform, bringing sports with over-the-top streaming services for the viewers. The service reaches over 200 countries, including New Zealand. The service launched in New Zealand in December 2020 to reach its kiwi viewers.
The service provides two simultaneous streams for its viewers in 4K and UHD formats. The service gives an immaculate reception as needed for sports transmission.
So if you plan to watch UEFA, Rugby Union, of the upcoming FIFA World Cup in 2022, the service is the right platform to sort your sports calendar.
Service Type: OTT (over-the-top)
Cost: $14.99 per month
Spark Sports
The channel was launched by Spark, the largest telecommunication company in New Zealand. Spark is a public traded company that provides telephone services, internet access services, and mobile phone networks to kiwis.
The company’s media division launched Spark Sports in March 2019. Spark Sport was the host broadcaster of the country’s most awaited event, the Rugby World Cup in 2021.
They have successfully secured the rights to broadcast all regional and international cricket played in New Zealand. The contract was secured from Sky Sports, who had the exclusive rights to air all regional and international cricket matches in New Zealand for over 25 years.
Besides rugby, you can catch sporting events like women’s cricket, football, all motorsports, hockey, tennis, basketball, and horse riding tournaments, albeit including all minor league matches to all international tournaments.
Service Type: Video-on-Demand
Cost: $19.99 per month
BeIN Sports
Owned and operated by the Qatari Group, BeIN Sports is a leading television sports channel in the MENA region. The service operates channels in France, the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Turkey, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
The channel launched around the time to broadcast Euro 2012 in June, French Ligue 2 in July, and Ligue 1 2012-13. The channel holds the exclusive rights to broadcast various major sporting events in the countries where it has services.
The service brings events like include cricket, UEFA Euro, FIFA World Cup, Champions League, Ligue 1, Star League, Super Lig, SPFL, Rugby Union, Rugby League, Indian Primer League (IPL), Pakistan Super League (PSL), motorsports, tennis, and reruns of Olympics for its audience.
Service Type: Video-on-Demand
Cost: NZD 31.99 (19.99 USD) per month
Kayo Sports
The streaming service is owned by streamotion, a subsidiary of Foxtel, originating from Australia. The services offer live and on-demand live sports from Fox Sports, beIN Sports, ESPN, and Racing.com.
The service launched in November 2018, after rigorous testing for any glitches or technical errors with the beta version, followed by a complete launch the same month.
It was dubbed as Netflix of sports for its wide selection of sports and on-demand networks available for sports lovers.
Kayo Sports launched in November 2018 and, by the end of May 2021, has over 1 million paying subscribers. The service is available to stream in New Zealand using Express VPN.
Service Type: OTT (over-the-top)
Cost: NZD 35.97 (25 USD) per month – 2 streams with a 14-days trial
Premium Plan Cost: NZD 50.36 (35 USD) per month – 3 streams with a 14-days trial
WWE Network
The famous American entertainment company WWE is available to watch in New Zealand as an over-the-top video-on-demand subscription service.
The company has reached most parts of the world except for mainland China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Russia, and occupied territories.
With 1.5 million subscribers growing daily, WWE Network is home to unlimited entertainment globally. Their over-the-top services have been most successful as they give the consumer liberty and control over the content they want to watch.
Service Type: OTT (over-the-top), Video-on-demand service
Cost: 9.99 USD per month
Parting Wisdom
These are some of the streaming services you can get in New Zealand. However, several other streaming services offer a wider variety and selection of sports content for viewers.
Meanwhile, most channels require a subscription to Sky TV, which has a hefty subscription charge each month.
If sports is a priority, and saving some bucks is also preferred, you can always opt for Express VPN. The service’s subscription charges are minimal, and then the world is your oyster.
Once you have bypassed the geo-restrictions, you get access to many sports channels like ABC iView, FuboTV, FS1, TNT, ESPN, NFL, and USA Network.
