German pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland has agreed a five-year extension to its rights deal for the Wimbledon tennis championships.
Under the terms of the deal, Sky will continue to cover the grand slam tournament live and exclusively in Germany and Austria through 2018.
In addition to the television rights, the new agreement – which was brokered on behalf of the All England Lawn Tennis Club by the IMG Media agency – also includes exclusive internet, IPTV and mobile rights.
Sky’s previous three-year Wimbledon contract expired following the end of last year’s tournament.
Sky rejected a request from public-service broadcaster ARD to sublicense the live rights to the 2013 women’s singles final between Germany’s Sabine Lisicki and France’s Marion Bartoli. This meant that the first women’s final with German participation since 1999 was unavailable on free-to-air television in Germany.
The 2014 Wimbledon championships are scheduled to run from June 23 to July 6.