Through a 12-year deal extension, the US Open tennis grand slam will continue to be shown domestically by heavyweight sports broadcaster ESPN through 2037.
A 12-edition deal (beginning in 2026) between ESPN and the United States Tennis Association (USTA) which runs the hard-court event was unveiled late yesterday, with the agreement also entailing the transferral of host broadcaster rights back from ESPN to the USTA in 2026. Spanish language coverage in the US, meanwhile, will continue through the ESPN Deportes broadcaster.
The Athletic publication has reported that the deal is worth $2.04 billion in total ($170 million per year), citing sources briefed on the deal.
Aside from the primary domestic rights element of the agreement, Disney-owned ESPN will continue as the home of US Open action across Latin America and the Caribbean. In Canada, meanwhile, the TSN and RDS channels will carry on as the event’s broadcasters.
The deal has been brokered by IMG, the heavyweight agency that handles the USTA's media rights, and has been announced during the 2024 edition of the US Open, between August 26 and September 8.
It comes as an extension of the previous agreement between the two partners, which covered the 2015-25 cycle of the New York event (and was unveiled in 2013). At the time of signing, that deal was reported as being worth $75 million annually.
In terms of the specifics of the new deal, ESPN now holds expanded streaming rights, as well as the ability to provide expanded coverage of the US Open’s fan week.
As well as this, there will be coverage of both the middle and final Sunday of the tournament on ESPN’s sister broadcaster ABC, availability of coverage from all courts each day, while ESPN will continue to have provision to provide sub-licensed rights on a limited basis.
Overall, the deal marks ESPN’s longest-running tennis agreement.
The change in host broadcaster is coming, both parties have said, with ESPN set to focus on the "more than 260 hours of annual coverage planned for the U.S., as well as hundreds of hours for international territories.”
Jimmy Pitaro, chair at ESPN, has said: “This agreement reinforces our long-term dedication to tennis, our capacity to showcase one of the premier events on the annual sports calendar and, as the world’s first sporting event to offer equal purses for its female and male competitors, The Walt Disney Company’s industry-leading commitment to women’s sports.”
Lew Sherr, the USTA’s chief executive and executive director, added: “This year’s US Open is well on its way to being the most spectacular championship in our history, and together with ESPN, we are energized by an even brighter future. Our shared commitment to expanding the reach of tennis has contributed to a significant increase in participation. Together, we will continue to leverage the US Open as a powerful platform to promote our mission to inspire healthier people and communities.”
Other broadcasters to have struck US Open deals beyond next year include Sportdeutschland.tv in Germany, Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, BeIN across the Middle East and North Africa, and Warner Bros. Discovery across Europe as a whole through 2027.
