Eurosport will provide coverage of the Tour’s ten Tier I tournaments and fifteen Tier II tournaments as well as the Tour’s showpiece event, the Sony Ericsson Championships. It will broadcast over 600 hours of women’s tennis a year to its 108 million households in 54 European countries. Last year 80 million viewers followed the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour on Eurosport and Eurosport 2. The new deal extends an existing four-year agreement between the three parties. The Tour and Regency Enterprises retain the TV rights outside of Europe.
Larry Scott, chief executive of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, said, “Eurosport and Regency have been powerful partners in driving the fantastic growth of women’s professional tennis over the course of the past seven years. This deal is a major step in our television strategy for the sport which includes innovations to broadcast production, a more clearly defined product and a greater promotion through our partners. All of this will make watching women’s tennis on television more entertaining and accessible than ever for the TV viewer.”
Eurosport has been involved in women’s tennis since 1999 and Eurosport president Angelo Codignoni said “we look forward to working with our partners on technological and television innovations in order to bring the best possible viewing experience to our audience.”
