Stan Sport’s founding director Ben Kimber is moving on, closing out a defining five-year chapter that saw him build the service from scratch and help position it as a major force in Australia’s live sports market.
In a LinkedIn post this week, Kimber revealed he is “hanging up the boots” as Stan Sport is folded into the broader Nine business – a restructure that has shifted roles and realigned functions across the company.
Rather than transition into a reshaped role, he’s chosen what he calls “a clean break,” with plans to explore new opportunities in 2025.
Kimber’s decision comes following Nine’s announcement that a restructure would be taking place in order to align Stan, Channel 9 and 9Now more closely.
Up to 50 jobs within the streaming and broadcast division were earmarked.
Building Stan Sport from the ground up
Kimber was Stan Sport’s foundation employee, joining before the product had a team, a roadmap or even a playbook.
“Over the last five years I’ve been able to build an exceptional team from scratch and deliver a growing and profitable sport subscription business,” he wrote.
He described the period as “the ride of a lifetime,” noting the challenge and thrill of constructing new functions that didn’t previously exist within Nine and establishing Stan Sport as a standalone streaming operation.
From day one, Rugby Union was the proving ground. Kimber helped launch the service with a major rugby partnership and later secured a five-year extension with Rugby Australia – a move that cemented Stan Sport’s arrival in a competitive sports rights landscape.
A rights portfolio that changed the game
Under his leadership, the platform broadened rapidly: the UEFA Champions League, Grand Slam Tennis, the Premier League, WSL and IndyCar all landed on Stan Sport, alongside a growing pay-per-view slate, a Commercial Venues business and what Kimber calls “Australia’s most comprehensive Olympics coverage ever.”
These wins, he said, were only possible thanks to Stan’s culture and leadership. “What Mike Sneesby built at Stan was simply amazing,” he wrote, adding that he will be “forever thankful for his leadership and the opportunity he gave me to be part of the business he created.”
He also paid tribute to Stan COO Martin Kugeler, “not only always the smartest guy in the room, but the most energised and caring boss you could hope for.”
Kimber also thanked the broader Stan Sport team: “the awesome people who really do know how to make magic happen” – and the sports partners who entrusted the streamer with their rights and their fans.
He noted that key partners have extended with Stan Sport “in recent months and years,” leaving the business on solid footing.
Stan Sport will now be led by Dan Taylor, whom Kimber describes as “a great boss and friend” who will “take it to even greater heights.”