Sky strikes five-year ATP and WTA tennis partnerships

Source: Sky

Pay TV operator Sky has struck new five-year tennis partnerships with both ATP Media, the broadcast arm of the ATP, and WTA Ventures, the commercial arm of the WTA, which will see over 80 tournaments made up of 4,000 matches available on Sky Sports, OTT platform NOW and German equivalent WOW. 

Both Tours will be available for fans year-round with Sky having secured rights exclusively in the UK and Ireland, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, as well as non-exclusive rights in Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and South Tyrol.

The competitions will feature players including Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal competing at all levels with a combined 1,000 events taking place in Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome, and Cincinnati, and both the Nitto ATP Finals and WTA Finals. From 2024, Sky said that Sky Sports will create a new home for tennis all year round, delivering the live action from the six continents direct to fans.

Live tennis will be available from next year on Sky Sports, and non-Sky subscribers can access the Tours via a NOW Sports Monthly membership, with selected highlights available on demand.

Stephen van Rooyen, CEO Sky UK & Ireland and Group CCO, said “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. 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.”

Mark Webster, CEO 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, CEO of WTA Ventures (and former managing director of NOW), said: “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.”