After snatching the lucrative broadcast rights to the English Premier League in Australia, Optus Sport courted controversy by making devotees sign up to an Optus phone or internet account in order to watch the programming.

But the company has decided to pursue other avenues to entice an audience to their coverage of the 2018 World Cup, with the broadcaster allowing fans without Optus accounts the ability to pay a subscription fee of $15 per month in order to access the content. 

Optus Sport will share the World Cup broadcasting role with free-to-air station SBS, however has the rights to show all 64 matches at this year's tournament live. Optus CEO, Allen Lew, also said Optus had assembled a star-studded team. 

“We’ve made sure every single match played in the 2018 FIFA World CupTM receives dedicated pre and post-game analysis and both live and on-demand viewing options,” Lew said.

“As a bonus for fans, Optus has assembled an expert team of analysts comprised of international and national talent who will be based in Russia and Sydney and will produce and deliver five hours of dedicated programming every match day during the tournament.

"These teams will be led by former Socceroo Mark Schwarzer and Optus Sport’s Richard Bayliss, and will provide a unique insight into events throughout the whole tournament."

The subscription can be accessed through Google Play and the App Store.