ESPN announced Wednesday it has signed a new 12-year deal with the United States Tennis Association to be the exclusive American broadcaster of the US Open through 2037. It’s the network’s longest tennis-rights agreement.
The agreement is estimated by The Athletic to be worth $2.04 billion throughout the entire term, averaging $170 million annually. The pact also includes a notable production shift in which the USTA will take over host production duties and oversee the feed for international rights holders, allowing ESPN to shift resources more toward the primary U.S. coverage. ESPN also gains some rights to sublicense content from the tournament’s first week to other broadcasters.
Throughout the past nine years, the US Open has become a fixture of ESPN’s late-summer programming, drawing record-level ratings and even rising to a fulcrum of carriage negotiations between the network and major distributors.
The deal, which came together just after this year’s tournament began, starts in 2026 and includes expanded streaming coverage to start that year, which gives ESPN “flexibility to roll out additional ways for fans in the U.S. to consume US Open content.” The deal will also include “availability of all play across all courts daily.”
That sounds quite similar to what NBC’s Peacock offered during the 2024 Paris Olympics, and it likely could involve ESPN’s planned flagship app, which will offer all ESPN channels as well as ESPN+, in one new bundle.
Rosalyn Durant, ESPN EVP of programming and acquisition, revealed the deal to the reporters present at ESPN media day, as the latest sign of the network’s commitment to women’s sports. “I talked earlier about our continued commitment to women’s sports,” she said. “Tennis is one of those categories—one of those sports that lends itself to that naturally, and we are proud of what they’ve accomplished. We’re proud to be part of their story, and very excited for this to be our longest-term tennis agreement.”
This year’s US Open has a $75 million prize pool, up 15% from last year, and the largest pot for any individual event in tennis history. The men’s and women’s champions will each earn $3.6 million, a 20% spike over the prior year.
The final Grand Slam of the year has also set attendance records with 216,029 fans attending Fan Week last week, while 74,641 attended Monday’s official opening day—the most for a single day in tournament history.
And as for sipping on the sidelines, the cost of the iconic Honey Deuce drink is up to $23.
