Tennis Channel, the US cable network owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, has retained rights to the men’s Davis Cup and women’s Billie Jean King Cup (BJK Cup) national team tournaments until 2028 and 2027, respectively.
The rights extension, struck with the International Tennis Federation (ITF) governing body, will see Tennis Channel remain the exclusive US home for both annual tournaments, extending a relationship that began in 2009.
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As well as rights in the US, the deals include extending Tennis Channel’s rights to broadcast both tournaments in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the UK.
Additionally, the network has picked up new rights in Spain to show the BJK Cup.
The deal was brokered by T/Squared, the sports and entertainment agency, which distributes Davis Cup and BJK Cup rights on behalf of the ITF.
This year’s BJK Cup Finals will run from September 16 to 21 in Shenzen, China, while the Davis Cup Final is scheduled for November 18 to 23 in Bologna, Italy.
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By GlobalDataJeff Blackburn, chairman and chief executive of the Tennis Channel, has said: “The Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup are iconic events in our sport and pillars of Tennis Channel’s schedule throughout the year.
“We’ve had a long-running partnership with the ITF and can’t wait for this next chapter with them. Together, we want to shine as much light as we can on the history and passion surrounding the cups and grow awareness and fans in both the U.S. and other countries.”
The extension consolidates the Tennis Channel’s strong portfolio of rights. Outside the four Grand Slam events, the network broadcasts every single tournament across the men’s ATP and women’s WTA top-tier tours, with the latter tour extending its rights deal with the network through 2032 in late June.
In May, meanwhile, Sinclair, the WTA, and the men's ATP unveiled a partnership based around the provision of integrated sponsorship opportunities to brands. Through the tie-up, sponsors now have access to both the ATP and WTA calendars of events in the US and all of Sinclair’s Tennis Channel properties, under a single sponsorship package.
The new deal comes three months after Tennis Channel announced former Amazon entertainment chief Jeff Blackburn as its new chairman and chief executive, tasked with leading the network’s strategic growth, as well as its expansion across digital, streaming, and global platforms.
That appointment came eight months after Sinclair ousted the channel’s longstanding chief executive, Ken Solomon, in September 2024 over out-of-work commitments relating to TV personality Phillip “Dr Phil” McGraw.
Soloman became a board member of McGraw’s Merit Street Media company in 2023 and had been spending an increasing amount of time focusing on that role, leading to Sinclair sanctioning his dismissal.
Last year also saw the network launch a free ad-supported streaming television service (FAST) channel, T2, that airs some live matches, as well as a new direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service that allows fans to sign up to the network without having to pay for a TV subscription.
The direct-to-consumer platform, unveiled in November, was created in partnership with sports technology company Sportradar.
