The US Open has often been called the greatest stage in tennis. Beginning this weekend, ESPN takes the grand stage as the network officially begins its 12-year rights extension with the tournament, signed in 2024. Managing 16 courts full of live action featuring the top names in the sport over the next two weeks in New York City is no easy task. Yet ESPN has continued to find new and innovative ways to reach a larger audience each year.
This year will mark another first for ESPN’s coverage of the US Open. For the first time, ESPN will present RedZone-style coverage for the first six days of action, streaming live on the ESPN App for ESPN Unlimited subscribers.
“For us and tennis in general, it’s a new offering that’s never really been done to this extent before,” said ESPN senior director of programming and acquisitions John Suchenski. “We’ve always done whip-around style coverage, particularly for our early-round coverage. But this is going to take that to another level and test how fast-paced we can be.”
RedZone Plans
ESPN gained the RedZone branding as part of the network’s acquisition of NFL Media assets, approved earlier this year. Prior to this year, all US Open matches had been available on ESPN+. But the plan for a RedZone-style broadcast didn’t come simply because of the added branding.
“The idea for doing this predates the most recent news between us and the NFL with RedZone,” explained Suchenski. “We had this idea two years ago when the USTA and ESPN formalized our long-term extensions of our partnership. So, the fact that we can make it an official RedZone offering is an additive. It also makes it more clear to the fans what it’s going to be.”
Suchenski says the plan for RedZone on ESPN Unlimited beginning Sunday is to have a similar concept to the NFL version. Albeit, with some slight differences. Instead of a singular host for all six days of RedZone coverage, ESPN plans to rotate talent familiar with the traditional linear coverage of the US Open.
“We will be moving match to match, game to game, and likely point to point in certain cases. That’s what RedZone is. It doesn’t need to sit on a game that goes to break point. Then goes to another game. Then back to break point. We may break away as soon as that break point happens, no matter the result, and go to the next one,” hints Suchenski. “Everyone is going to get a chance to contribute to this. That’s a big difference from the NFL RedZone experience.”
With ESPN commentary on every match included in the RedZone presentation, Suchenski feels the action will meet the expectations of viewers looking for a RedZone-style presentation.
“Right now, the US Open is the only event we have committed to a RedZone offering on the ESPN platforms,” said Suchenski. “I don’t know what else could potentially come down the line. But everyone’s excited about this all the way to the top of our company. We’re going to see how this works and how it performs. From there, we’ll see what the strategy will be moving forward.”
Navigating New
Another element that made NFL RedZone a fan favorite for many years centered around host Scott Hanson’s catchphrase. “Seven hours of commercial-free football starts now.” Times have changed, and so has the catchphrase. NFL RedZone is no longer commercial-free, and the RedZone coverage of the US Open will also not be commercial-free.
However, Suchenski noted that the commercial load will be far lighter than what tennis fans are used to.
The US Open continues the network’s streaming strategy of centralizing every match in one spot, but only for ESPN Unlimited subscribers. That strategy began earlier this year with ESPN’s coverage of the Australian Open. With slight adjustments made, it then shifted to Wimbledon and now the US Open.
Now, a year past the debut of the network’s direct-to-consumer app, Suchenski says ESPN continues to take in feedback and make adjustments.
“Change is hard. We understand that. But our observation is now that fans are more accustomed to the offering on ESPN Unlimited,” said Suchenski. “By being an ESPN Unlimited subscriber, you get access to the linear network coverage. Which is our primary coverage for our Open coverage. In addition, you get so many more offerings that we offer to be complimentary to that. Those fans now have access to all that.”
While not offering any specifics on ESPN Unlimited subscriber counts, Suchenski says subscribers are not the lone measurement that matters to ESPN.
“Subscribers is one of many factors. It’s about new subscriptions, but also we have a base of people who have the plan. We want to make sure it feels like they’re getting a robust amount of an offering too,” notes Suchenski. “Consumption and usage are other metrics for us. I think we were pretty satisfied and pleased with what we saw for Wimbledon. Tennis’ audience is very engaged. They spent a lot of time with the coverage from a total-minutes and a viewing perspective with Wimbledon. We’re looking forward to hopefully what we’ll see with the US Open.”
Multiview Mix
Another element of the ESPN Unlimited tier that has generated significant conversation during the first year of the ESPN App is the multiview experience. The ability to watch more than one sporting event at a given time.
Within the ESPN App, every multiview offering currently is pre-curated within the ESPN Unlimited tier. That means the user experience does not allow subscribers to select the individual games or events they want to watch across the four available viewing windows.
With the US Open kicking off at the start of the college football season, Suchenski says the plan is to offer a mix of different sports. That includes options for fans of not only the US Open, but also the kickoff of the college football season.
“The functionality has not changed at this current time with the start of the US Open. It’s still pre-curated multiview offerings within the ESPN app. We don’t utilize or have the functionality that YouTube TV has as of yet,” said Suchenski. “Viewers will get several US Open-only options each day. But they’ll also [get] a mix of sports options with college football Saturdays beginning. It’s the best of both worlds.”
Now, a year after launching the modern-day ESPN App, Suchenski says the network is very pleased with the progress and success of its first year. Entering the second year, albeit with a slight price increase, Suchenski and ESPN will continue to look for more events and properties to bring to the platform. All while finding new and innovative ways to bring signature events to life through the ESPN Unlimited tier.
The US Open has always been about finding a way to see the best of tennis, no matter which court the players are on. ESPN is now trying to take that same philosophy and apply it to the way fans watch the sport.
RedZone-style coverage, expanded multiview options and every match centralized within the ESPN App are more than additions to the network’s US Open coverage. They are another glimpse into ESPN’s vision for the future of sports viewing — one where fans have more control, more access and fewer reasons to settle for watching just one event at a time.
The experiment begins Sunday in New York. Whether RedZone becomes a signature part of ESPN’s tennis coverage or simply another idea that evolves along the way, Suchenski and ESPN know the objective is bigger than the next two weeks.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.