Australian commercial broadcaster Seven has had an offer to extend a rights deal for the Australian Open tennis tournament rejected by the Tennis Australia national governing body, according to the Australian Financial Review newspaper.
The report said that a majority of the governing body’s board of directors turned down the bid as they are keen to launch a tender process later this year for the next cycle of rights, which will begin with the 2015 tournament.
Seven currently pays A$21 million (€16.5 million /$21.5 million) per year for the rights to the Australian Open, but Tennis Australia has already received preliminary offers of about A$40 million per year from agencies, the report added.
Seven, which has the tournament’s free-to-air, pay-television and digital rights, has a six-month exclusive negotiating period with Tennis Australia from April 1.