The technology company, formerly known as Telecom, will broadcast premium sports through a joint venture with Coliseum.
Lightbox Sport would include all of Coliseum's New Zealand content, including golf, English Premier League football, French TOP 14 rugby and any future locally-based projects, the online content providers said in a joint statement.
Spark had already entered into a distribution deal with Coliseum when the online sports broadcaster launched last year.
''This partnership looks to simplify the crowded online TV marketplace,'' Lightbox chief executive Kim Niblock said.
''By joining forces we will be giving customers a greater breadth and depth of choice and a more compelling viewing experience.''
Forsyth Barr broker Andrew Rooney said yesterday Coliseum would contribute its existing sports to the joint venture and Spark would contribute cash.
''Lightbox Sport will look to expand the sports it offers but we expect Sky Network Television to retain its key codes of New Zealand rugby, cricket and rugby league.''
On a practical level, one key issue remained - the quality of delivered content, he said.
Sports viewers willing to pay for content were used to live viewing of high-definition content. Quality should not be an issue for those on a fibre service.
But that was only a minority of households.
The experience of live streaming at peak times for those on a copper broadband service would be variable, Mr Rooney said.
The online video demand space is growing increasingly competitive, with dominant pay television provider Sky Network Television launching Neon this month, ahead of US-based service Netflix arriving in New Zealand and Australia next year.
Lightbox was part of Spark's transition as it chased earnings growth in data, content, mobility and cloud services. Spark cancelled its decade-long resale contract with Sky TV in February.
In a second announcement, Spark confirmed the date at which construction would start on a new fibre-optic cable between New Zealand and Australia, Mr Rooney said.
The previously announced joint venture between Spark, Vodafone NZ and Telstra had an estimated cost of $US70 million ($NZ90.2 million).
Spark's contribution would be about 47%. Services would be available from mid-2016.
''In our view, this effectively removes any likelihood of another privately funded cable between these two countries.''
Reviewing the Commerce Commission's recent decision on pricing for the use of Chorus' copper network, Mr Rooney said instead of an annualised $85 million benefit, the commission draft pricing would drop its cost savings to $36 million.
Spark had responded by indicating it would increase monthly access charges for the majority of its customers from early next year, despite lower costs from Chorus.
''We expect Spark's competitors will also look to increase pricing on some plays. However, we wait to see if they use this as an opportunity to try and win customers in the short term.''
Spark had initiated a turnaround programme, mainly cost-reduction-related, aimed at eventually delivering $200 million to $300 million in savings per year, excluding benefits from any copper network access price reductions.
Mr Rooney was concerned about the relatively weak operating profit growth delivered by its New Zealand operations and that high-margin fixed revenues would continue to fall.
Forsyth Barr had an underperform rating on Spark with an unchanged share target price of $2.40. The shares last traded at $3.14.
AT A GLANCE
• Lightbox Sport - joint venture with Coliseum New Zealand to broadcast premium sports such as golf, English football and French rugby.
• New cable - Spark will pay 47% of the cost of a new fibre-optic cable between New Zealand and Australia, along with contributions from Vodafone and Telstra.
• 4G - Spark says it is overtaking its rivals as it moves ahead with its 4G Network. Spark has 4G mobile data services available in more than 70 cities, towns and other locations around New Zealand, covering about two-thirds of the population.
• Gibabit - Spark will offer unlimited gigabit-broadband plans from $99 a month to customers in #gigatowndun (also known as Dunedin) next year. As an extra bonus for winning the Gigatown competition, the technology company will also be installing GigaWi-Fi on 10 of the busiest Spark Wi-Fi hotspots around the city.
