Sky close to announcing major tennis deal with ATP, WTA?

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief

Published: February 19 2023 | 14:22

Last updated: February 20 2023 | 11:39

Sky close to announcing major tennis deal with ATP, WTA?

Sky is reportedly close to agreeing a major deal for almost complete coverage of the ATP and WTA tours from 2024.

Sky is reportedly close to agreeing a major deal for almost-exclusive coverage of the ATP and WTA tennis tours from 2024.

Amazon had held the rights to both tours in the UK and Ireland since the 2020 season but has opted not to renew when its current deal expires at the end of the year.

According to Sport Business, Sky will be re-entering the tennis rights market with a five-year deal for both the ATP and WTA tours across all of its European markets - the UK and Ireland, Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland.

The agreement will provide thousands of hours of live tennis content every year and will most likely result in Sky launching a dedicated Sky Sports Tennis channel across its territories.

Domestic rights to a handful of specific tournaments are believed to be excluded from the package, including the Swiss Open, German Open, Austrian Open, Queen's, the Eastbourne International and the Birmingham Classic.

The move comes after Sky announced that it has regained the rights to the US Open starting from this year. In the UK, Wimbledon is broadcast by the BBC, whereas rights for the Australian Open and French Open are held by Warner Bros Discovery, owner of Eurosport and BT Sport.