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Apple could enter the tennis rights market in the UK after Amazon opted not to extend its broadcast packages for the ATP and WTA Tours, according to The Telegraph.
The internet giant’s Prime Video streaming service has deals in place to air the men’s and women’s professional tennis circuits until the end of 2023. However, The Times reports that after losing the rights for the US Open to pay-TV’s Sky Sports, Amazon has decided not to renew either agreement
A number of factors are believed to have contributed to the decision, not least Amazon’s expenditure on other high-profile rights in the UK, including the Uefa Champions League, the Premier League and rugby union’s Autumn Nations League.
The Telegraph reports that Sky and Warner Bros Discovery-owned Eurosport are likely to be the main bidders to succeed Amazon. Apple, though, could enter the fray with a view of using tennis as a way into European markets for its Apple TV+ over-the-top (OTT) platform.
The tech giant already has a global deal with Major League Soccer (MLS) and a multi-territory contract with Major League Baseball (MLB), and is in the running for the National Football League’s (NFL) Sunday Ticket in the US.
Rights for the ATP and WTA Tours may fetch between UK£10 million (US$11.3 million) and UK£20 million (US$22.5 million) per year when combined. The four Grand Slams are not included in the UK packages.
Wimbledon is shown on public service broadcaster the BBC, while Eurosport broadcasts the Australian Open and French Open. Official confirmation of Sky’s deal for the US Open, which will kick in from next year, is purportedly expected in the coming weeks.
Sky Sports’ unexpected outbidding of Amazon to land the US Open looks to have prompted the company’s loss of interest in the ATP and WTA. Missing out on the Grand Slam left Prime Video without a single focus for its tennis coverage, with both circuits’ myriad of events perhaps lacking the appeal to entice the casual viewer.
Sky and Eurosport would be obvious homes for the ATP and WTA, but Apple would represent a different proposition. The Broadcasters Audience Research Board (BARB) estimated in June that 1.57 million UK homes had access to Apple TV+, compared to Prime Video’s approximate 13 million subscribers in the country. Avid tennis fans will not exactly be ecstatic at the prospect of having to fork out for another streaming service.
Still, aside from its deep pockets, Apple has a certain allure. After MLS penned a ten-year rights deal with the company in June, the league’s president and deputy commissioner Mark Abbott said the arrangement would allow MLS to be incorporated into Apple’s wider ecosystem. That, Abbott believes, will be “transformational”.
“Just look at what happened when Apple got into music and how it transformed that business,” he added. “Now it’s going to happen that they’re into sports.”
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