TNT Sports signs 10-year deal to stage French Open from next year | National entertainment

Warner Bros. Discovery and the French Tennis Federation on Tuesday made official what was revealed over the weekend – the French Open will be broadcast on TNT Sports in the United States starting next year.

TV sports reporter Noah Eagle announced Sunday at the end of NBC’s coverage that TNT Sports will be the new home of the tournament.

The 10-year deal will average $65 million a year, a jump from the $25-30 million a year the French Tennis Federation had been getting from NBC and Tennis Channel for the US rights.

NBC first televised the second leg of the Grand Slam of tennis in 1975 and has done so continuously since 1983.

“Once it became clear that the rights were available, we quickly jumped in and then went to Paris and explained the vision for what we wanted to do with the tournament,” said TNT Sports President and CEO Luis Silberwasser. “We created a vision where we’re not just talking to the tennis fan, but we want to talk to the sports fan in general. I don’t want to say it was done quickly, but it was done in a relatively short time.”

TNT will be the primary network for coverage, with additional matches airing on TBS and truTV. Every match in the tournament will also be broadcast on Max. Highlights and other content will also be available on Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and HighlightHER.

The new deal brings the French Open on par with coverage of the other three Grand Slam tournaments, which are supported by ESPN. Every match on every court for the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open is on the ESPN+ streaming service. ESPN also airs coverage from all three on multiple channels during certain windows.

The president of the French Tennis Federation, Gilles Moretton, said in a statement that the new agreement “will allow the federation to ensure maximum exposure for Roland Garros in the US and help to further promote the tournament.”

Warner Bros. Discovery already had a history with the French Open. It has broadcast the tournament on Eurosport since 1989 and distributed coverage in 55 countries outside the United States.

TNT would likely begin promoting the French Open during its coverage of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in March and continue that with coverage of the NHL and NBA playoffs.

TNT will air two College Football Playoff games on Dec. 21 and has four NASCAR races starting next year, but its future carrying the NBA remains up in the air as talks continue with the league over a new rights deal that would starts with 2025. -26 season.

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