Rai, the Italian state broadcaster, has agreed a sublicensing deal with tennis and padel broadcast platform SuperTennis to show the national team’s matches at the Davis Cup tournament, should they make it to the latter stages.
The broadcasters will simultaneously air Italy's matches in the semi-final and final of this year’s competition, if they overcome Austria in the quarter-final next month.
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Italy, winners of the last two Davis Cups, will play Austria on November 19 in Bologna, where the Final 8 of the competition is being staged.
The match will be broadcast exclusively on SuperTennis, which holds the domestic rights for the event.
If Italy wins, the Rai 1 channel will also show the subsequent rounds free-to-air to Italian audiences.
The winner of the Italy-Austria tie will face either France or Belgium in the semi-final on November 21, with the final taking place two days later.
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By GlobalDataThis is the first year under the new Davis Cup format, having moved away from the September six-day, round-robin group stage structure it has utilized since 2019, to an abbreviated two-day format featuring seven home and away ties, with the seven winners joining the host country in the Final 8.
Angelo Binaghi, president of the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation (FITP), said: “This agreement embodies a fundamental principle of our federation: ensuring that Italian tennis and the achievements of its champions reach the widest possible audience.
“Showing tennis on the public service's premier channel means highlighting a sport that is experiencing an extraordinary moment.”
With the presence of young star and current world number two Jannik Sinner, Italy secured back-to-back Davis Cup titles in 2023 and 2024 and is among the favourites to triumph for a third straight year.
SuperTennis, the FITP’s dedicated terrestrial linear TV channel, secured exclusive rights to the Davis Cup, as well as the women’s Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup, last November for the 2025-2028 cycle.
The broadcaster provides coverage on its main linear TV channel and SuperTenniX OTT service.
The rights to the national team competitions were previously held jointly by Rai, pay-TV giant Sky Italia, and SuperTennis.
Interest in tennis has soared in Italy due to the country’s dominance on the international stage in recent years, and high-profile players on the men’s and women’s circuits.
The Italian women’s team recently won the BJK Cup for a sixth time, led by world number eight Jasmine Paolini.
