In-Depth
Timeline Of U.S. Open media rights
A look at rights deals beginning in 2000:
A tearful Martina Navratilova is interviewed by CBS after a 1989 loss in the U.S. Open final. CBS televised the U.S. Open from 1968 until 2014.Getty Images
2000
CBS signs a four-year, $152 million extension through 2004.
2002
USA Network announces a six-year extension to the cable network’s TV rights deal for the U.S. Open. The USTA will reportedly receive a 30 to 40 percent rights increase.
2003
CBS signs a four-year, $120 million extension through 2008 for the U.S. Open and the proposed U.S. Open Series. The deal calls for CBS to pay a $33.75 million rights fee for the 2004 Open, the final year of the old contract. The net will then pay $30 million each year until 2008.
2005
SiriusXM signs a three-year deal, beginning in 2005, to air the men’s and women’s singles finals and semifinals.
2006
USTA becomes an investor in Tennis Channel.
CBS and the USTA extend their broadcast agreement with a six-year deal that begins in 2009. The deal includes a lower rights fee but also revenue sharing and commitments to broadcast other USTA tournaments. It guarantees the USTA $140 million to $150 million over six years.
2008
The U.S. Open will leave USA Network after 25 years and move to ESPN and Tennis Channel starting in 2009. The six-year, $140 million deal also includes cable rights to the Olympus U.S. Open Series. Unlike the previous USA Network arrangement, the USTA will not have to pay production costs, saving the group approximately $15 million over the life of the deal.
2011
CBS signs a three-year extension.
2013
ESPN signs an 11-year deal worth more than $825 million for rights to the entire U.S. Open. The contract, which begins in 2015, ends an era that has seen CBS broadcast the event every year since 1968. CBS will carry its tournament package the next two years.
2013
TSN and RDS extend their partnership with the USTA with a new 11-year multimedia rights agreement for the U.S. Open, giving them exclusive Canadian coverage of the finals for the first time.=
2018
Amazon agrees to a five-year deal to pick up U.S. Open rights in the U.K. and Ireland. It includes live and on-demand coverage, including highlights.
