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Sky Sports has confirmed a five-year agreement with the ATP and WTA for exclusive rights in the UK and Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland that will see more than 80 tournaments and 4,000 tour matches transmitted live on the British subscription sports network from 2024 on Sky Sports and the streaming service NOW.
This is a fantastic time to see the ATP and WTA Tours on Sky Sports across our markets, as tennis enters a new era with fresh and exciting talent making their way to the top of the sport. Stephen van Rooyen, CEO Sky UK & Ireland and Group CCO
Fans will be able to watch the Nitto ATP Finals and WTA Finals, all ATP Masters1000 and WTA 1000 events, 500s and 250 events (excluding domestic events) and the Next Gen ATP Finals on Sky as a result of the agreement, which the cable network is taking over from Amazon Prime Video.
“This is a fantastic time to see the ATP and WTA Tours on Sky Sports across our markets, as tennis enters a new era with fresh and exciting talent making their way to the top of the sport,” Stephen van Rooyen, CEO Sky UK & Ireland and Group CCO, said.
“We are committed to bringing the two Tours together to elevate both male and female stars, and deliver world-class coverage of the 80 events across 48 weeks of the year; creating a brand-new home for tennis fans.”
Sky previously owned the rights to the ATP Tour between 2002 and 2018, when Amazon Prime took over, but tennis returned to the channel this year as it aired the US Open after signing a long-term partnership with the United States Tennis Association.
From 2024, Sky Sports will create a dedicated tennis channel to provide 24-hour coverage, delivering the live action from the six continents direct to fans.
Presenter Gigi Salmon will front Sky Sports’ coverage along with Tim Henman (L) and Laura Robson (R) and Jonathan Overend on match commentary
Sky Sports
Mark Webster, Chief Executive Officer of ATP Media, said: “We are extremely excited by the commitment we are seeing from Sky to both men’s and women’s tennis.
“ATP Media prides itself on producing and delivering the huge amount of world-class content generated on the ATP Tour and the three Sky entities have shown themselves to be the perfect partners to provide this content to our many tennis fans.
“We share many of the same values, striving for innovation and excellence, and we hope this is just the start of an amazing new chapter for tennis in these Sky markets.”
Marina Storti, Chief Executive Officer of WTA Ventures, added: “This partnership is brilliant news for tennis fans who can look forward to more exciting action from the Hologic WTA Tour in 2024 and beyond with a strengthened calendar which will elevate the sport even further.
“Sky Sports are renowned for championing world-class sport, and we know that they will create a fantastic new platform to showcase our outstanding WTA and ATP athletes in one place. The future is bright for women’s sport and there is much more growth to come.”
Presenter Gigi Salmon will front Sky Sports’ tennis coverage along with former players Tim Henman and Laura Robson with Jonathan Overend on the match commentary.
Non-Sky subscribers will be able access both the ATP and WTA Tours content via a NOW Sports Monthly membership, with selected highlights available on demand.
News of the deal, however, has sparked some controversy with fans when the poster posted by Sky Sports on social media had some notable notable omissions, including World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus and Russians Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev.
While Andy Murray, Emma Raducanu, and Katie Boulter were among those that were included, questions also arose about Iga Swiatek, who is the current World No 1 only being a footnote compared to a one-time Grand Slam champion, Coco Gauff.
Also, the Amazon model has proven popular with fans as coverage was included in their Prime membership subscription, and they could watch every match and replays.
Many are left wondering whether this will be the case next year, and aren’t happy at the potential price increase.
More details on the arrangements are expected in response.
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