Ever wished you could get access to Foxtel Sports without paying the minimum $54 per month access fee? Well, now you can, with Kayo, Foxtel's stand-alone sports streaming platform.
What is Kayo Sports?
Kayo is basically the Netflix of sports. A single monthly payment of $25 gets you access to the entire library of over 50 sports: matches live and on demand, match commentary, interviews and docos.
But the minds behind Kayo have clearly put some thought into how sports fans like to take in their games and have come up with some pretty unique features, like "SplitView" which allows you to watch multiple matches at the same time, "key moments" which shows you where to find the best parts of a match and "no spoilers" which blocks scores from appearing in the menu when you browse.
WhistleOut Staff Review
Kayo is a one-stop-shop for sports streaming. If you follow a lot of different types of sport, the subscription is really worth the money.
Before Kayo, if I wanted to keep up with football and tennis I'd have to pay for beIN Sports Connect for $19.95 or Foxtel Sports for $54 per month. Now I can watch it all, plus NRL, Formula 1 racing, basketball and anything else I want, for $25 per month.
The personalised menu is great for showing everything I want to see in one place.
The Kayo Mini match summaries are also really handy. They run for about 20 minutes which is the perfect length to feel like you really experienced the game and all its key moments, without having to watch the whole match.
How much does Kayo Sports cost?
Kayo offers membership across two price tiers. Each price gets you access to absolutely all of Kayo's content. What changes is how many screens you use to watch simultaneously.
Both subscriptions include a 14-day free trial period and are contract-free; you can cancel any time.
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With a Basic subscription, you get two screens, which means you could be keeping up with the cricket downstairs, while your kids watch motorsports upstairs. With Premium you get three screens, so add to that scenario your folks watching golf in the guest room.
It's important to note that "simultaneous screens" is different to "SplitView". Even if you've split your screen across four different sports at once, that still counts as only one screen.
Unlike Netflix, your level of Kayo plan doesn't affect streaming quality, which means you can stream in HD no matter which level you choose. But at this time, the highest resolution you can use to watch Kayo is Full HD 1080p. Kayo doesn't offer any 4K content. If you want to watch live sport in 4K, you'll need to get Foxtel on satellite.
Telstra postpaid mobile customers can currently get Kayo for $15 per month for their first 12 months. This offer runs until June 30, 2020. You'll need to sign up to Kayo directly through Telstra to get this deal.
What's on Kayo Sports?
At the time of writing, Kayo's exhaustive list of sports includes:
- Field hockey
- Football
- Formula One
- Golf
- Gymnastics
- Horse racing
- Ice hockey
- MMA
- Motorsports
- Rowing
- Rugby League
- Rugby Union
- Sailing
- Squash
- Supercars
- Surfing
- Table tennis
- Tennis
- Watersports
- Weight lifting
Thanks to Foxtel's partnership with ESPN, Kayo features plenty of international programming as well as local Aussie favourites. You can watch some US college basketball, followed by the latest in international cricket, then the Rabbitohs vs St George, and top it all off with some Formula One.
As well as live and on demand matches, Kayo also features sports commentary, press conference footage, "Kayo Mini" game digests and popular sports TV shows like Sunday Night with Mattie Johns, The Late Show, The Back Page and Pardon the Interruption. There are also hundreds of hours of sports docos to check out.
While Kayo's content is, for the most part, a mirror of what's on offer from Foxtel Sport, there are some exceptions. Sky Racing and Eurosport channel is missing, as well as the English Premier League, which only streams to Australians through Optus Sport.
How do you watch Kayo Sports?
Kayo offers options to watch on your mobile, tablet, computer and TV. Compatible TVs and streaming devices include:
- Apple TV (4th generation)
- Google Chromecast
- Telstra TV
- Smart TVs with Android TV OS 7.1 or above
There are no Kayo apps for PlayStation, Xbox or Samsung smart TVs at the time of writing, though that's sure to change soon.
If you're using a Chromecast, Telstra TV or a "non-supported Android TV", it's worth noting that you will miss out on Kayo's signature SplitView function. Apple TV is currently the only streaming device to support it. But fingers crossed that changes soon.
If you want to watch on your computer, Kayo will work with Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari.
Or if you're keeping up with your games on the go, Kayo has an iOS app for your iPhone or iPad and an Android app for Android phones and tablets. But you should note that on mobile phones you can only split your screen two ways, whereas tablets allow you to split your screen up to four ways.
What are Kayo Sports' special features?
As a dedicated sports streaming service, Kayo comes with a unique range of features specifically designed with sports fans in mind.
SplitView (shown above) - allows you to watch up to two matches simultaneously on mobile and up to four on tablet, desktop or Apple TV. The split-screen feature comes with a range of templates to choose from. You can split your screen evenly between four games or have one feature and up to three smaller windows. You can easily toggle sound between windows without affecting your layout, so you can check in on the progress of different matches as you watch.
Key moments - shown on the video player timeline, key moments lets you skip ahead to the most exciting parts of a match. This feature is turned off by default to avoid spoilers, but you can turn it on by selecting the icon which looks like a screen with a line through it. Key moments are not available for all games.
Pop out player - if you're watching on your computer, use the pop-out-player (bottom right) to set up a small, floating screen so you can keep one eye on a match while you're getting on with other things.
Multiple cameras - Kayo provides the option to add extra camera angle streams to your match viewing experience. This feature is available for selected motorsports ("RaceView"), tennis ("CourtView") and golf ("CourseView"). Depending on the event you may be able to add up to three extra camera streams, which you will watch using SplitView.
Personalised menu - as we've come to expect from streaming services like Netflix, Kayo will ask you for your favourite sports, leagues and teams and personalise your menu experience to match.
Notifications - get notified when your favourite teams have a match starting by visiting "Manage my favourites" under the hamburger menu. Click on your favourite sports or teams to manage your notification preferences. If you haven't yet selected your favourite sports or teams or need to modify them, you can also do this via "Manage my favourites".
No spoilers - selected by default, "no spoilers" will make sure scores don't appear while you're navigating the Kayo interface. This function also blocks "key moments", so bear that in mind when using.
Match centre - a raft of content related to the event you're watching. The "match centre" will appear in the menu below the main event and can include "Kayo Mini" match digests, commentary, previous game highlights, interviews and related documentaries.
Kayo Minis - Match highlight reels that run for around 20 minutes. These are a great way for you to get a full sense of the match and its pacing, without having to watch for hours at a time.
Interactive graphics - available for AFL, NRL, cricket, A-League and Super Rugby, Interactive Graphics displays in-game stats. If you're watching AFL, for example, you can see how many kicks, handballs, inside 50s, etc, there have been in the game so far, and who the top players are. This feature is only available on desktop, Apple TV and iPhone and iPad devices.
Choose your speed - watch the match or your favourite moments in slow motion, 1.5x or 2x speed.
What are the alternatives to Kayo Sports?
All of Kayo's programming is also available through both a traditional Foxtel package or a Foxtel Now streaming subscription. However, there are some drawbacks to choosing either of these paths to fulfil your sporting needs.
With a Foxtel subscription you may get all the same content, but you'll miss out on Kayo's special features like SplitView and key moments. You'll also end up paying more. Way more.
The Foxtel Sports pack is priced at $29 per month, whether you want it on Foxtel proper or the streaming platform Foxtel Now. And on top of that, both Foxtel services will force you to buy an entertainment starter pack on top. That will bring your total costs up to a minimum of $54 per month for Foxtel Now or $58 per month for Foxtel proper.
Foxtel proper also comes with some hefty upfront fees if you'd prefer a contract-free plan - $100 for installation and $150 for an iQ4 set-top box. These are waived if you're happy to commit a 12-month contract, however.
The Foxtel and Foxtel Now starter packs can be great value if you love your TV comedy, drama or lifestyle programming as much as you love your sport. The packs come with thousands of hours of premium entertainment and if you choose Foxtel Now the starter pack will even get you access to much-coveted HBO highlights like Game of Thrones, Westworld, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
On the other hand, if Foxtel Sports doesn't sound like your scene, there are plenty of other sports streaming options available to Australians at affordable prices and sometimes even free. These include Optus Sport, beIN SPORTS Connect, OVO Play and Fetch TV. Read more about sports streaming options for Australians here.
How much data does Kayo Sports use?
Kayo's data usage is fairly standard for a streaming service. You'll use 2.5GB of data per hour watching at 720p, and 3.25GB per hour at 1080p.
But it's worth noting that using SplitView will multiply your data usage. For example, watching two games simultaneously will double your hourly data usage. Two 1080p streams will use 6.5GB per hour, three will use 9.75GB per hour, and four will use 13GB per hour.
Best plans for Kayo Sports?
Streaming TV and movies on your home internet - whether through Kayo, Foxtel Now or another service - will chew up a lot of data. That's why we recommend getting a plan with at least 500GB and NBN Standard Plus (NBN 50) speed.
There are loads of plans like this in our database, covering all budgets. Here are just a few:
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And if you want to bundle your Kayo bill with your internet or mobile bill, you can, as long as you're a Telstra mobile or Telstra internet customer. If you want to go down that road, it might be worth considering a Telstra TV bundle.
The Telstra TV set-top box can be bundled with any Telstra broadband plan for an extra $9 per month over 24 months. As well as getting Kayo straight onto your TV, the Telstra TV can also support other streaming platforms like Netflix and Stan, and control live TV.
Here are your options for Telstra NBN plans with Telstra TV included:
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