NBC, ESPN, Tennis Channel Close To New Wimbledon Deals

NBC, ESPN And Tennis Channel Nearing Wimbledon TV Deals

NBC and ESPN are “close to renewing their contracts to broadcast Wimbledon through 2011, collectively paying up to $88[M],” while The Tennis Channel (TTC) will gain the “rights to televise early-round matches starting next year,” according to sources cited by Kaplan & Ourand of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL.  TTC, which will be in 18 million homes by the end of the summer after a deal with DirecTV, will now carry matches from three of the four tennis Grand Slams, excluding only the U.S. Open, which is owned by the USTA, an investor in the network.  NBC, whose current four-year, $52M deal for Wimbledon ends at the conclusion of this year’s tournament, has agreed to a pact that “carries roughly the same terms.”  ESPN, whose current four-year deal pays Wimbledon between $7-9M annually, has also agreed to a “similar package.”  Financial details on TTC deal were not available.  Sources said all three companies will also have live video streaming rights, which would “appear to end Wimbledon’s ties to MediaZone, which for the second straight year is offering Internet pay-per-view” of the tournament.  IMG Media Vice Chair Barry Frank and IMG North America President Doug Perlman are leading the negotiations of the deals on behalf of the All England Club (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/25 issue).