Streaming titans to have tilt at our top tennis title

Amazon and Netflix are among global leaders hoping to do a deal to secure international rights to our most prestigious tennis title.

Ashleigh Barty in her fourth round match against Alison Riske. Picture: AAP

Streaming giants Amazon and Netflix and global technology companies such as YouTube are set to be part of the bidding for ­global Australian Open broadcast rights, potentially making tennis the first major Australian sport to strike a deal with an international technology behemoth.

Tennis Australia (TA) has lined up its international rights, including the US and Europe, to expire in 12 months after the 2021 Australian Open next January.

The move positions it to be able to then negotiate with streaming and social media giants, who are expected to compete with incumbent broadcasters such as ESPN in North America and Eurosport across Europe and Britain.

Executives from Amazon, YouTube, ESPN, the Tennis Channel and other global firms have flown to Melbourne to be entertained by local tennis officials at the Australian Open, which ­enters its second week of action on Monday.

TA has already established a ­relationship with Amazon Prime, which has rights to the annual Laver Cup that TA part-owns with Roger Federer and other investors. Amazon already owns other tennis rights globally, including some of the French Open and the Women’s Tennis Association tour matches in Britain and Ireland.

TA chief revenue officer Richard Heaselgrave said the organisation had worked for four years to line up most of its global rights to expire at the same time, in order to potentially sell the rights across the world rather than by specific market and country.

“To be able to come to the market with almost the whole world at the same time is something new,” he said. “If Amazon wants to look at a whole world deal — not to say it is definitely going to happen — to have them in the frame is important in how you potentially negotiate and distribute your TV rights.

“Strategically, you can’t sell country-by-country TV rights in the same way you could.

“Two or three years ago you’d have a pay-TV channel and terrestrial channel and they would bid for live sport content, and that would create a market. Now the social platforms and the Amazons and Netflixs are the people who could be future investors in sports rights. They don’t see countries the same way. It is borderless.”

While TA makes about $60m annually from its domestic deal with Nine Entertainment, the ­organisation now makes significantly more from international rights holders.

Mr Heaselgrave believes the global figure can go even higher, with tennis officials seeing the ­opportunity to sell global rights for food, music, entertainment, highlights packages and produce behind-the-scenes shows such as the popular Formula One Drive to Survive series on Netflix.

The non-tennis content, he said, would have a similar focus on promoting the food, music and entertainment that happens around the tennis at Melbourne Park and has helped attract ­record crowds there.

“Eurosport might be for live tennis, but they are interesting because they are owned by ­Discovery and Discovery own the Food Network and music shows. ESPN in America is owned by Disney, so you can potentially do something there,’’ Mr Heaselgrave said.

“The idea is to have a stream of broadcasters with, for example, children’s content, music content and cookery shows. You can quadruple your audience by distributing your media content to different partners. That’s why the live event links with the global media strategy.”

While he would not be drawn on the exact timing of when TA would sell its next round of global rights, Mr Heaselgrave said he ­expected at least a significant upgrade in the North American market. The current deal with ESPN was signed 10 years ago, when former domestic broadcaster Seven West Media had production rights

TA now produces the international and domestic broadcast under chief communications officer Darren Pearce, who leads a team of up to 650 people during the tournament that produces television, social media and digital content.

“We’d be looking for a sizeable increase in that (North American) market,” Mr Heaselgrave said. “With the offering we have now, which is more courts and every minute of every match … distributed by a team which is making it bespoke for that market, and the additional content from all other segments of the event … it is a different product we are offering. So I would be entering the market in these countries with excitement.”