Major global sports agency Sportfive and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) governing body have extended their media rights distribution tie-up, in a multi-year extension.
The deal, which Germany-based Sportfive has called "long-term," covers media rights in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) and former Soviet Union (CIS) countries for the men's Davis Cup and women's and Billie Jean King Cup national team tournaments.
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However, the APAC element of the agreement excludes China and Australia.
Specifically, it covers the first and second rounds of qualifiers for the Davis Cup and the Final Eight tournament, as well as the qualifiers, finals, and play-offs of the Billie Jean King Cup.
A joint statement by ITF and Billie Jean King Cup Limited said the renewal "aim[s] to further strengthen the presence of both competitions across CIS and APAC markets, leveraging Sportfive's extensive media network and industry expertise."
Sportfive was first formally appointed as a media rights partner for the Davis Cup in May 2022 by Kosmos, the body founded by Gerard Piqué, which was previously in control of commercial rights to the men's tennis tournament.
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By GlobalDataThat specific deal covered APAC and ran through the 2024 edition.
This extension has been unveiled with the 2025 Davis Cup Final 8 set to take place in Bologna, Italy, between November 18 and 23, and the 2025 BJK Cup Finals set for mid-September in Shenzhen, China.
This extension comes a month after Kosmos and the ITF announced the settling of what had been a long-running dispute, regarding the ITF ending Kosmos' highly-lucrative, 25-year, Davis Cup contract early, in 2023.
The ITF struck its original deal with Kosmos in 2018 to revamp the Davis Cup – at that point, an ailing tournament – with Kosmos pledging to invest $120 million per year into the tournament and $25 million per year into tennis development globally.
The agreement saw Kosmos take over commercial rights to the Davis Cup Finals, including organizing host cities, sponsorship, and broadcast agreements, as well as guaranteeing the prize for players.
However, after largely failing to deliver on its promises to elevate the Davis Cup to a premier event on the global tennis calendar, the ITF then announced its deal had ended prematurely in January 2023.
Kosmos had replaced the traditional format with just one home-and-away round of ties, followed by 18 teams competing in one city for a week-long, season-ending tournament.
Regarding both the Davis Cup and BJK Cup, earlier this month, BeIN Sports, the major international pay-TV broadcaster, renewed its deal with the ITF (covering both tournaments) across the Middle East, North Africa, and Australia, through 2026.
The BeIN network will continue to air every round of those competitions across 26 MENA countries and Australia, in English, Arabic, and French.
BeIN also recently extended its rights deal for the Davis Cup and BJK Cup (formerly Fed Cup) in France through 2026.
