Amazon Prime to give up tennis rights with Sky Sports in the running to take over – Express

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Amazon Prime are not set to bid for more tennis rights when their current broadcasting deal ends at the end of 2023, a report has revealed. The streaming service has become a popular home for tennis fans costing only £9 a month and also agreed to show Emma Raducanu’s US Open victory last year free-to-air through Channel 4.
The Times have reported that Amazon Prime bosses have decided not to renew the platform’s exclusive rights package with the ATP and WTA tours when their current five-year deal ends in 2023. While it has yet to be announced Sky Sports have already believed to have won rights to next year’s US Open.
Tennis writer for the Times, Stuart Fraser tweeted: “Amazon Prime will step away from televising tennis in the UK at the end of 2023. The digital giant is not in the running for the fresh round of ATP and WTA rights. Sky Sports (soon to confirm a US Open deal) among the interested broadcasters.”
Sky Sports last showed tennis in 2018 after losing the rights due to being outbid by Amazon. Staff at the broadcaster blame the spiralling cost of Premier League rights for cutbacks in areas such as tennis.
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Amazon Prime secured the contract to show ATP tournaments in the United Kingdom for five years from the start of the 2019 season which comes to an end next year. However, if Sky Sports does obtained rights to the US Open and ATP and WTA Tours they will still miss three of the four major tournaments.
Wimbledon is proudly shown by the BBC in a deal costing the broadcaster a believed £60million a year. Meanwhile, the French and Australian Opens are broadcast by Eurosport who will want to keep their coverage of the events and could add to their portfolio if they can out-bid Sky Sports.

DON’T MISS:Fans have voice their disappointment at the news Amazon Prime is stepping away. One viewer wrote on Twitter: “Such bad news, their coverage has been brilliant and I have lots of matches saved with them on the My Stuff section.”
Another hoped that Discovery would gain the Tour rights instead of Sky Sports. They said: “Sky had the rights to all those tournaments pre-Amazon but wouldn’t set up a dedicated tennis channel, it’s one of the reasons Amazon got the rights. Hopefully Discovery sports will get them, it would be a backwards step if Sky got them.”

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