Prime Video partners with Murray to support young tennis talent in UK
June 12, 2019
Amazon Prime Video have partnered with multiple Grand Slam champion Andy Murray, to create a biennial award which will support up and coming young British tennis talent. The Prime Video Future Talent Award, supported by Murray, will select one male and female player to receive a total of £60,000 in funding over a two year cycle, to be used for developing skills and progressing their career as they look to break into the professional ranks.
The award, which has been created and developed in partnership with Andy, will be open to all young junior British tennis players between the ages of 16-20. The shortlisted applicants will be whittled down to one male and one female winner, by a selection panel presided over by Murray and comprised of Tim Henman and Annabel Croft. In addition, the GB Fed Cup Captain, Anne Keothavong, has joined the selection panel to provide additional insight from the rigorous selection processes that underpin the identification of players for the LTA’s (Lawn Tennis Association) existing programmes.
In addition to £30,000 per year, award winners will receive one-on-one progress updates with Murray, as well as support from Amazon mentors. In order to identify those at the most critical stage of their career, a list of criteria for applications has been developed. All applicants must meet the criteria and submit a personal statement, which will go on to form the shortlist presented to the judging panel.
Applications for the Prime Video Future Talent Award are now open – submissions will close on 12 July, 2019, with winners announced later in the year.
“It’s important to help develop young talent in this country – the transition from juniors to seniors isn’t easy,” said Murray. “I’ve been working with Amazon to develop this offering and hopefully it can help future British players.”
“It’s important to us to support tennis off-screen as well as on – that’s why we’re so delighted to be partnering with Andy on the Prime Video Future Talent Award” commented Alex Green, MD of Sports, Prime Video Europe. “We’re pleased to be able to help support two young British players to reach the next level of the sport.”
The Prime Video Future Talent Award, supported by Andy Murray, underlines Prime Video’s commitment to supporting tennis off-screen, in addition to its growing raft of tennis coverage on-screen. From 2019 – 2023, Amazon Prime Video will deliver live and exclusive coverage of over 220 days of tennis tournaments, all at no extra cost to a UK Prime membership. This includes 37 ATP Tour events – including all ATP Masters 1000 events – the US Open exclusively in the UK and Ireland, and the first ever ATP Cup, live from Perth in January 2020. Prime Video will also broadcast The Laver Cup, The Nitto ATP Finals from The O2, the Next Gen ATP Finals, all ATP 500s, including the Fever Tree Championships from The Queen’s Club and thirteen ATP 250s, including the Nature Valley International from Eastbourne. Additionally, from 2020, Amazon Prime Video will have exclusive rights to show the top Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tournaments in a four-year deal, representing the first time both the men’s and women’s professional tours have been available in one place in the UK.
Prime Video will broadcast on-site, live studio coverage across tournaments. On-site field reporters will bring customers the latest action, analysis and commentary right from the courtside at many tournaments. Customers will have access to full, uninterrupted, live coverage from every televised court, match replays available within 15 minutes, and highlights on demand.
In addition to the tennis coverage available exclusively with a Prime membership, Prime members in the UK who subscribe to Eurosport Player through Prime Video Channels for an additional £6.99 per month (following a 7-day free trial), will also benefit from full coverage of the French and Australian Open, and daily highlights and live coverage from the men’s and women’s finals of Wimbledon.
Tennis coverage on Prime Video supports a growing line-up 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. This is in addition to its selection of Prime Original All or Nothing sports docuseries including All or Nothing: Manchester City, All or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks, and All or Nothing seasons with American Football teams; Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, Dallas Cowboys and Michigan Wolverines. All are currently available to stream on Prime Video worldwide.