Tennis Australia and ESPN International have expanded their broadcast partnership of the Australian Open across Latin America, Brazil and the Caribbean.
For a further 10 years, viewers will be able to follow all AO Events including the AO Qualifying Tournament, AO Junior Championships, AO Wheelchair Championships, AO Legends, AO Australian and Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-offs and the lead in Adelaide International ATP 250 tournament.
“ESPN is renowned for its quality tennis coverage on and off court and we’re delighted to announce an extension of our partnership for a further decade,” commented Australian Open Tournament Director, Craig Tiley.
“It was clear from the start of our relationship that ESPN shared our vision around innovation and delivery of highly engaging content for our fans. We look forward to continuing our work together to bring the most comprehensive and compelling AO coverage to fans across the region.”
Originally formed in 1998, the new deal will see the partnership extend to over 30 years, running until 2031 in 47 territories in three languages.
Furthermore, the agreement also includes linear and digital rights to the AO and lead-in tournaments and around 200 hours of coverage on its ESPN channels at Melbourne Park; AO Qualifying, the AO Junior Championships and AO Wheelchair Championships coverage on ESPN’s Star + platform; and additional online reporting across digital platforms.
Senior Vice President of production, programming and acquisitions, marketing and advertising sales for ESPN, Tim Bunnell, added: “We are proud to be the home of the Australian Open across Latin America and the Caribbean.
“For over 20 years, ESPN has been committed to showcasing the best of the tournament to fans – providing the most comprehensive live coverage across multiple platforms networks. We are excited and thrilled to extend our agreement with Tennis Australia. The Australian Open will continue to be a vital component of our Grand Slam coverage and other major tennis events scheduled on ESPN’s platforms throughout the year.”
Additionally, the new AO originals programs will also be together introduced for the first time, which has been reported as ‘exclusive lifestyle and entertainment programming content’ across their Disney platforms, starting with the show ‘The Perfect Serve’.
This month, the tournament made its significant debut into the metaverse by linking AO Art Ball Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to live match data, in a new technique of engaging fans.
As the tournament became the first Grand Slam to enter the meta-space, the launch gave global tennis followers the ability to own a piece of the AO, whilst public sale and minting began on 13 January.
