Amazon Prime and the USTA agreed to a five-year partnership, giving the video-platform exclusive broadcast rights of the US Open Tennis Championships in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
“This new partnership allows the USTA to showcase our live and on-demand content to Amazon Prime members throughout the U.K. and Ireland,” said Lew Sherr, USTA Chief Revenue Officer. “We are excited to market the telecasts via Prime Video and provide fans more ways to watch tennis matches.”
Amazon, like many other streaming platforms, has put an emphasis on acquiring live sports content.
“We are proud to partner with the USTA to add the US Open to the growing portfolio of sports available on Prime Video,” said Alex Green, Amazon Prime managing director of channels and sports in Europe.
Prime members will require no additional charge to view the US Open. Consumers will be able to access the tournament on more than 600 connected devices via TV’s, game consoles, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and mobile devices.
The time difference makes it difficult for U.K. tennis fans to watch prime-time matches live, but the partnership was announced as Amazon receiving exclusive rights to both live and on-demand content of the 2018 US Open which takes place from August 27 to September 9. It will be interesting to see how the non-Prime subscribing fan-base reacts should Andy Murray or another local favorite advances to the later rounds of the tournament.
Brandon Contes is a freelance writer for BSM. He can be found on Twitter @BrandonContes. To reach him by email click here.
Jason Barrett is the Founder and CEO of Barrett Media. The company launched in September 2015 and has provided consulting services to America’s top audio and video brands, while simultaneously covering the media industry at BarrettMedia.com, becoming a daily destination for media professionals. Prior to Barrett Media, Jason built and programmed 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He was also the first sports programmer for SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, which later became 97.5 The Fanatic. Barrett also led 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and worked on-air and behind the scenes at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years at ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT producing ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and ‘GameNight’. JB can be reached on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.
