There will be no elite tennis on Sky Sports for the "first time since its launch" after Amazon "snatched" the U.K. contract for the ATP World Tour from '19, according to Ben Rumsby of the London TELEGRAPH. Sky’s "haemorrhaging of secondary sports rights" ahead of the upcoming Premier League auction has continued, with Amazon Prime Video becoming the new home of men’s tennis outside the four grand slam tournaments in a £10M ($13.2M)-a-year deal. The contract also covers Masters 1000 and Masters 500 tournaments from around the world, "including those in Monte Carlo, Madrid, Paris, Miami, Indian Wells and Shanghai" (
TELEGRAPH, 8/1). In London, Mark Sweney reported the deal will make Amazon Prime Video the "home for practically all top-flight men's tennis other than the four grand slam tournaments." Sky, which is understood to have paid about £8M ($10.6M) a year for its current deal, is "not thought to have matched the amount it bid last time to try and secure the new deal." Amazon’s move is its "first major live TV sports rights deal" outside the U.S. and "potentially signals that an already competitive market could be about to heat up further, pitching deep-pocketed digital players against broadcasters" (
GUARDIAN, 8/1).
THE BRIGHT SIDE: THE DRUM's Tony Connelly reported Sky’s "savings from losing out" on the current deal "could benefit it" when it "faces off with BT Sport for the next Premier League rights deal early next year." Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch said last week that the company "walked away" from bidding for some sports rights recently as "there was better value in spending the cash elsewhere in the business." Video creation platform Wochit CEO Dror Ginzberg said that Amazon's move was "hugely significant" because it represented the "first move to take on British broadcasters directly for sought after sports rights." He added, "Given that the Premier League’s rights are up for grabs next year too, Amazon could be a player in this bidding war, which means it may even surpass the previous record deal of over £5 billion secured in 2015" (THE DRUM, 8/1).
