CBS has had a good run with U.S. Open tennis, dating back to 1968. But it will be over after the 2014 tournament.
The United States Tennis Association agreed today to a new 11-year deal with ESPN, beginning in 2015. Not only is the money huge (a reported $825 million over the length of the contract), but the ESPN’s 24/7 promotion machine should help grow the audience. Having the entire tournament in one place makes sense.
From the Associated Press story:
“We expect the audience for the U.S. Open to increase, not to decrease, with all the platforms that we have digitally,” ESPN President John Skipper said during a conference call with reporters. “This sort of old canard that there’s something to be lost by going from broadcast to cable, I would submit, has it wrong. It is just the opposite. Moving to ESPN allows the opportunity to reach more people across platforms, and that’s what we believe will happen.”
He said ESPN eventually will give fans a chance to see action from all 17 courts at Flushing Meadows via television or computer.
“ESPN is the strongest brand in sports. It puts the U.S. Open at the center of American sports culture like never before,” USTA Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer Gordon Smith said.
If ESPN wants to take over the world of sports and keep upping everyone’s cable bill, it’d be nice to see them hire the very BEST play-by-play announcers. Theirs have been 2nd tier guys like Mike Tirico, Mike Patrick and Chris Fowler (who does their tennis). I wonder if they don’t want to pay top dollar to get the top talent; I exempt their baseball guy who’s pretty good. I know this is very subjective but I think there’s a lot lacking in their on-air “talent.”