Surfing Super League and Foxtel announce exclusive broadcasting agreement
Every wave of the inaugural 2028 season will be showcased to Australian viewers, with 50 hours of coverage exclusively on Foxtel, Kayo SPORTS and BINGE.
Friday, 4 September 2026 — The Surfing Super League (SSL) and Foxtel have announced an exclusive broadcast agreement that will showcase every wave of the inaugural 2028 season to Australian viewers.
The partnership will see one of the largest volumes of live surfing content ever delivered on Australian television within a short, eight-week competition window, bringing 50 hours of coverage across seven rounds, 14 round-robin games and the Premiership Grand Final, exclusively to Foxtel, Kayo SPORTS and BINGE.
Securing a Tier-1 broadcaster 17 months ahead of the league going live in 2028 represents an unprecedented audience opportunity for the sport and provides definitive validation of the SSL's fixed-format commercial model.
Surfing's reliance on multi-day holding periods and unpredictable swell windows have historically presented challenges with broadcast scheduling. The SSL solves this structural challenge by engineering a fixed-format product designed specifically for linear and digital broadcasting.
Under the agreement, Foxtel Group platforms will deliver a minimum of 50 hours of total broadcast inventory across the eight-week summer season, including 30 hours of live match coverage and 20 hours of shoulder programming:
- Guaranteed content windows: live coverage will air at 4:00pm AEDT every Saturday and Sunday across locked two-hour broadcast blocks.
- Structured broadcast format: every broadcast features a 10-minute pre-game show, a 90-minute live game (comprising two 40-minute halves and a 10-minute half-time), and a 20-minute post-game show.
- Dedicated highlights programming: a 30-minute weekly highlights show will air multiple times each week across Foxtel, Kayo SPORTS and BINGE.
- Unlocking the summer audience: leverages Foxtel's proven subscriber reach to aggregate and deliver massive, highly engaged sports audiences beyond traditional free-to-air metrics.
Founded by former Red Bull executive and Surfing Australia CEO, Chris Mater, the SSL complements the global surfing calendar, allowing contracted athletes to retain personal sponsors while earning a fixed $89,000 base salary with complete gender pay parity.
SSL Chief Marketing Officer, Jo-Jo Alpers, said:
"Securing Foxtel as our broadcast partner validates the foundational premise of the Surfing Super League. Media buyers and investors have always recognised the massive cultural reach of Australian surfing, but the lack of predictable scheduling kept it under-commercialised compared to sports like the NRL or AFL.
"By engineering a high-stakes, 90-minute team format that fits neatly into broadcast grids at 4:00pm every summer weekend, we've created a tentpole media asset. Foxtel, Kayo SPORTS and BINGE give us the ultimate platform to reach millions of homes, proving to franchise investors, sponsors and fans that the SSL is built for long-term commercial success."
Foxtel Group Head of Sport & Content Partnerships Nic Goard said:
"It is fantastic to be partnering with the Surfing Super League for their inaugural season. Surfing has a passionate following in Australia, and the SSL's innovative, made-for-TV format, combined with an exceptional line-up of established and emerging talent, sets the platform for unmissable entertainment for viewers. Alongside our more than 50 live sports, and as a partner in the growth, we look forward to working together to showcase every moment of this historic season to our audience."
In addition to securing its broadcast partner, the SSL has officially opened commercial tenders. Strategic partners and brand sponsors are now invited to secure early positions ahead of the inaugural SSL Team Scouting Combines, scheduled for June 2027.
With a national broadcast home now secured, the Surfing Super League is another major step closer to its inaugural season in summer 2028. Eight teams, Australia's leading surfers and a new 90-minute format will bring professional surfing into a consistent weekend sporting window, giving fans a new way to watch, follow and support the sport.
The countdown to season one is officially on.
For background or interviews, or to find out more about partnership or investment opportunities, please contact Sound Story: Jake Challenor (jake@soundstory.com.au, +61 419 023 046) or Zanda Wilson (zanda@soundstory.com.au, +61 411 066 554).