SporTV, the pay-television broadcaster owned by Brazilian media group Globo, has acquired rights to tennis’ French Open, one of the sport’s four grand slam events, until 2023.
Globo announced the agreement ahead of the start of the rescheduled 2020 tournament yesterday (Sunday), saying that the acquisition has been made in accordance with guidelines “for efficiency, sustainability and evaluation of the consumption” that are “in line with the new world reality and the economic situation of the country”.
Globo already holds rights to the top-tier ATP World Tour 1000 tournaments and the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals. It is airing matches from Roland Garros on its SporTV3 channel.
BandSports, the pay-television arm of Brazilian media group Bandeirantes, also holds French Open rights in Brazil and has aired the tournament since 2013.
As reported by SportBusiness, an invitation to tender was issued in October last year for the broadcast rights to the French Open and ATP Tour events. The rights on offer ran from 2021 to 2023.
ATP Media, the broadcast production and sales arm of the men’s ATP Tour, sells its worldwide broadcast rights in conjunction with IMG. The agency also brokers media-rights deals in Brazil on behalf of the French Tennis Federation (FFT).
Ahead of the 2019 tournament, the FFT entered into a partnership with telecoms group Vivo to provide an OTT service for Brazilian viewers. A dedicated website and app were launched and Brazilian viewers were charged R$29.99 ($5.39/€4.63) for a tournament pass.
The OTT proposal remains in place this year and was also priced at R$29.99 for those who signed up by September 21 (with the price rising to R$39.99 thereafter).
Meanwhile, beIN Media Group, the pay-television broadcaster that holds the Roland Garros media rights in the Middle East and North Africa, has announced a tie-up around this year’s tournament with the WHO (World Health Organization) Foundation.
The broadcaster is giving viewers the opportunity to donate to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic via its broadcast and digital channels. All donations made will be used to support communities worldwide. Since the onset of the global pandemic, beIN has promoted WHO initiatives worldwide, broadcasting the One World: Together at Home benefit concert, as well as other initiatives.
During this year’s tournament, a customised fundraising QR code will be integrated into beIN’s website and live streaming.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman of beIN Media Group said: “We are proud to strengthen our ongoing partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), including this latest collaboration with the WHO Foundation at Roland-Garros. Everyone has a role to play in the global response to the pandemic – no matter how small – and we will continue to do whatever we can to support the WHO and its Foundation on their critical work.”