TENNIS CHANNEL, CITI OPEN® RENEW EXCLUSIVE MEDIA PARTNERSHIP
Network to Remain Home of Washington, D.C., Tournament through 2023 |
| LOS ANGELES, April 2, 2019 – Tennis Channel and the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington, D.C., have renewed their exclusive multimedia partnership through 2023. The five-year agreement will let the network remain the television and digital home of the annual summer men’s and women’s event, one of the oldest U.S. tennis competitions. The 2019 Citi Open main draw will take place July 29-August 4.
Tennis Channel has covered the half century-old Washington, D.C., tournament every year since 2003, the network’s first year on air. In 2015 the channel and tournament began an exclusive media rights agreement that led to the most television coverage in the event’s history, increases in ticket sales, sponsorships and viewers. Tennis Channel carried the tournament from opening day to championship point, with daylong match blocks – usually from 2 p.m. to after midnight ET – followed by all night and morning encores. Viewers also had the option of choosing from multiple courts on the network’s Tennis Channel Plus digital subscription service. Last year Tennis Channel dedicated close to 170 hours to the week-long competition, with an on-site tournament desk and a similar approach that it takes when televising top-level events like the French Open and BNP Paribas Open.
“We’re happy that Tennis Channel will keep turning into ‘The Citi Open Channel’ every summer, and that fans all over the country will see this tournament unfold in real time from start to finish,” said John MacDonald, senior vice president, content programming, Tennis Channel. “It’s been an honor to partner with such an historic event and to help the Citi Open build on the inspiring legacy of (tournament founder) Arthur Ashe. This has become one of the most-watched events in our summer lineup.”
Founded in 1969 by former player and sports lawyer Donald Dell and his partner John Harris, with input from Hall of Famer and philanthropist Arthur Ashe, the competition has been home to a variety of stars and Hall of Famers. Its roster of champions includes Jimmy Connors (1976, 1978, 1988), Andre Agassi (1990-91, 1995, 1998-99), Ivan Lendl (1987), Michael Chang (1996-97), Andy Roddick (2001, 2005, 2007) Juan Martin Del Potro (2008, 2009, 2013), and doubles brothers Bob and Mike Bryan (2005-07, 2015). The tournament added women’s singles and doubles competition in 2012, and has seen championships won by Svetlana Kuznetsova (2014, 2018) and Sloane Stephens (2015). Based at the city’s Rock Creek Tennis Center, the Citi Open is a men’s tennis ATP World Tour 500-level event and a women’s tennis WTA International Tournament. |
