Tennis/United States: ESPN extends its media rights to the US Open for 2026-2037 ($170m per year)

ESPN (owned by The Walt Disney Company) has extended its exclusive full broadcasting rights to the US Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in the United States for the 2026-2037 cycle (twelve editions) with the USTA, announced the US pay-TV and free-to-air group on 28/08/2024.

"The deal, which starts in 2026 and is ESPN's longest-term tennis agreement, also continues to make ESPN the home of the entire US Open in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Canada on TSN and RDS. ESPN Deportes likewise continues as the exclusive Spanish-language home of the US Open in the United States," explained the group.

ESPN has reportedly extended these rights for a total of $2.04bn (€1.83bn), or $170m a year (€152m), according to American media. The annual amount would therefore be 2.43 times higher than that currently paid by the group. The group is paying $70m a year (€63m) for the exclusive rights to broadcast the US Open in its entirety in the United States over the 2015-2025 cycle (a total of $770m/€691m).

US Open 2023: a record 3.4 million viewers for the women's final on ESPN in the USA