by The US Open will remain on ESPN for the foreseeable future, at great expense.
ESPN announced Wednesday that it has extended its relationship with the New York-based tournament to a 12-year deal, pushing its ownership of the rights through 2037. The Athletic reports the price tag is $2.04 billion.
That’s about $170 million a year.
The deal with ESPN was set to expire after 2025, and this new contract gives the network exclusive rights in Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada. Streaming rights and coverage of the tournament on Mid-Sunday and Final Sunday will also be extended on ESPN’s broadcast partner ABC.
According to ESPN:
“We are extremely proud of our 15-year relationship with the USTA,” said Jimmy Pitaro, ESPN President. “This agreement reinforces our long-term commitment to tennis, our ability to present one of the premier events on the annual sporting calendar and, as the first sporting event in the world to offer equal prize money to women’s and men’s competitors, The Walt Disney Company’s commitment to women’s sports.”
ESPN also currently holds rights to Wimbledon and the Australian Open, while the French Open is set to migrate from NBC and Tennis Channel to TNT in 2025, thanks to Warner Bros. Discovery’s 10-year, $650 million deal.
The US Open’s higher price tag is due to several factors, but the most obvious is the time zone advantage of being the only Grand Slam tournament held in the United States. The tournament has a greater domestic appeal than other Grand Slam tournaments and often offers added value beyond the broadcasts through the celebrity factor of the players and spectators.
With Roger Federer and Serena Williams retired, Rafael Nadal set to join them and Novak Djokovic at 37, the deal is also a bet that the tennis world will provide new superstars over the next decade.
