The new Hexagon Cup padel tournament has today unveiled a media rights deal in the UK with commercial free-to-air broadcaster ITV.
Through the tie-up, ITV will cover the semi-finals and final of the inaugural Hexagon Cup, which will take place in Madrid between January 31 and February 4. This agreement marks ITV’s first with a padel event.
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The semi-finals will be held on February 3, with the tournament’s final taking place the day after.
The action will be live-streamed on the ITVX digital service, with a highlights program then to be shown on the ITV4 digital channel.
The broadcast production partner for the Hexagon Cup is Aurora Media Worldwide, through a deal unveiled in December.
Tim Godfrey, strategic advisory for the Hexagon Cup, has said: “This partnership with ITV marks a major win, not only for the Hexagon Cup which now has a leading, free-to-air home in the UK, but also for British padel fans who are picking up a passion for the playing the sport, and can now watch the best players in the world, live and free.”
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By GlobalDataDecember also saw Eurosport, the sports broadcaster owned by media giant Warner Bros. Discovery, as a media partner in 64 countries across Europe and Asia.
Niall Sloane, ITV’s director of sport, added: “We are looking forward to ITVX showcasing this exciting new sport which has caught the attention of so many fans.”
The first Hexagon Cup event will be held between January 31 and February 4 in Madrid, Spain and feature men’s and women’s players, competing in six franchise teams for a prize fund of $1.06 million.
Owners of the franchises include tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, soccer player Robert Lewandowski, and Hollywood actress Eva Longoria.
The event’s founders, meanwhile, include Simon Freer, Enrique Buenaventura, Alejandro Agag, and Alberto Longo, who are well-known for having founded Formula E, the Extreme E electric off-road racing series, and the E1 all-electric powerboating competition.
In mid-October, the event secured an investment of £1 million ($1.22 million) from DMG Media, the UK group that owns multiple newspapers, while US investment company Oak View was awarded the contract to oversee the commercial and sponsorship strategy of the tournament.
Last week, meanwhile, racket sports community app Playtomic came on board as an event partner.
Other partners that have signed on recently to support the Hexagon Cup include sports equipment company Slazenger and beer brand Mahou San Miguel.
