Internet company Amazon has acquired exclusive rights in the UK for the US Open tennis tournament, according to multiple reports.
UK newspaper the Guardian said Amazon has secured the rights in a five-year deal, from 2018 to 2022, for a fee of about $40m (€34m), or $8m per year.
The rights were previously held by international sports broadcaster Eurosport, which sublicensed the rights on to pay-television broadcaster Sky in the UK.
Eurosport announced yesterday (Wednesday) that it had extended its pan-European rights deal for the US Open, excluding the UK and Ireland.
Three months ago, Amazon sealed its first major sports-rights deal in the UK by outbidding Sky for the men’s ATP World Tour in a five-year agreement from 2019 to 2023.
In May, Amazon struck a deal to offer Eurosport channels via its Prime Video subscription service in the UK.
With Eurosport having UK rights to the Australian Open and French Open and non-exclusive rights to Wimbledon, Amazon will be able to offer all four of tennis’ grand slams.