Amazon nets exclusive rights to WTA
June 12, 2019
By Nik Roseveare
Amazon Prime Video will have exclusive rights to show the top Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tournaments in a four-year deal starting next year. Offering a minimum of 49 tournaments in the first year, Prime members in the UK and Ireland will have access to the live events at no additional cost to their membership.
Prime members will be able to watch up to 2,000 live and on demand matches per year from the WTA, including the four WTA cornerstone Premier Mandatory events of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, the Miami Open presented by Itaú, the Mutua Madrid Open and the China Open in Beijing, along with the season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen, China.
“As soon as the opportunity to bid for the women’s tennis rights became available, we couldn’t wait to bring the tournament to Prime Video, giving customers the chance to watch the best in both women’s and men’s tennis all in one place for the first time,” said Alex Green, European MD of Sport at Amazon Prime Video. “We are excited to be the home of tennis and will offer viewers the most comprehensive coverage, at no extra cost to their Prime membership.”
Micky Lawler, WTA President, added: “We are thrilled that Amazon Prime Video will offer the best of women’s tennis and showcase our premium events and world-class players to millions of fans across the UK and Ireland. We have been so impressed by their vision for our sport and are confident the Prime Video team will be a great partner of the WTA.”
WTA joins Prime Video’s current line-up of tennis with over 220 days of tennis tournaments broadcast alone in 2019, including exclusive coverage of 37 ATP Tour events (2019-2023), the US Open (2018-2022) and the Laver Cup (2019).
Tennis coverage on Prime Video supports a growing slate of live sports, including NFL Thursday Night Football games available to customers in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Starting from the 2019/20 season, UK Prime members will also have exclusive access to 20 Premier League matches per season, at no extra cost to their membership.