- Sky will show 80 tournaments and 4,000 games a season
- Deal includes ATP and WTA Tour finals
- Amazon previously held the rights to both tours in the UK
Sky Sports has acquired the exclusive rights to both the ATP and WTA men’s and women’s tennis tours in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in a five-year deal lasting until 2029.
The dual agreement will see the pay-TV broadcaster cover more than 80 tournaments and 4,000 matches each year, including the season-ending finals for both competitions.
Certain events will be non-exclusive in their domestic markets, such as the London-based Queens Club Championships, which is on the BBC in the UK.
Live coverage will be available on Sky Sports linear channels, as well as on the broadcaster’s digital channels and the Now and Wow direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming services, supported by a range of magazine and social content.
English language coverage will be presented with Gigi Salmon, with former British players Tim Henman and Laura Robson joining as analysts, with Jonathan Overend serving as lead commentator.
“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,” said Stephen van Rooyen, Sky UK and Ireland chief executive and Sky Group chief commercial offer.
“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.”
“We are extremely excited by the commitment we are seeing from Sky to both men’s and women’s tennis,” said Mark Webster, ATP Media chief executive. “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.”
“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,” added Marina Storti, WTA Ventures chief executive.
“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.”
Sky Sports also has the rights to Wimbledon in Germany and Italy, and to the US Open in the UK. Eurosport broadcasts the Australian Open and Roland Garros Grand Slams in all three countries.