The French tennis federation (FFT) has awarded domestic rights to the French Open for the 2021 to 2023 cycle to public broadcaster France Télévisions and internet giant Amazon, it said Thursday.
France Télévisions has gained rights to Package 1 which includes all tournament matches except those played on the Simonne-Mathieu court (the competition’s 3rd show court) and night sessions on the Philippe-Chatrier main show court.
Amazon has rights to the smaller Package 2, which includes matches played on the Simonne-Mathieu Court and the night sessions.
The semi-finals and finals will be co-broadcast by the two parties.
The federation said the average annual rights revenue for 2021-2023 will be more than 25 per cent higher than the average of the last three years.
The deals were agreed in private negotiations with the two broadcasters after the failure of the recent FFT tender for the rights.
Amazon’s move into tennis in France follows its recent strengthening of its tennis portfolio in the UK with the acquisition of WTA Tour rights last month, joining its existing ATP World Tour and US Open rights.
Domestic rights to the French Open are currently held by France Télévisions and pan-European sports broadcaster Eurosport. The two broadcasters have rights to the competition until 2020.