ATP Cup Attracts Global Broadcast Coverage Ahead Of 2020 Season Launch

The ATP Cup will kick off the 2020 ATP Tour season with broadcast coverage secured in more than 180 territories worldwide, the ATP announced on Thursday.

The new 24-country team event will launch the 2020 season with the group stages played simultaneously across Brisbane, Perth and Sydney from 3 January, before the Final Eight knock-out stages take place in Sydney from 9-12 January.

Ross Hutchins, ATP Cup Managing Director, said: “Our intention has been to kick off the season with a major global event and the ATP Cup is set to provide exactly that, with a fantastic player field across our three venues. We’re delighted with the broadcast agreements in place that will ensure that fans all over the world will be able to tune into the action to follow the start of the season as the players go head-to-head for their countries in a bid to win the inaugural ATP Cup.”

The host broadcast of the ATP Cup will be produced by Tennis Australia, with domestic rights held by Channel Nine in Australia, while the international broadcast sales and distribution are handled by ATP Media, the broadcast arm of the ATP Tour.

“Through the ATP Cup broadcast we want to take the tennis fan right into the heart of true ethos of this event,” Tennis Australia Chief Operating Officer and ATP Cup Tournament Director Tom Larner said.

“It’s all about the teams, the passion and the camaraderie of these players and we want to show how much it means to them and how amazing these athletes are. The ATP Cup will offer something very unique in the world of tennis. There’s never been a 10-day tennis tournament held across three different cities simultaneously before, and we’re excited to bring this new event to the world through a contemporised broadcast that appeals to, and attracts, new audiences to tennis.”

The world’s leading broadcasters have committed to the event, with live coverage being shown via free-to-air TV, pay TV, online and via OTT products depending on the territory, demonstrating the wide interest in the ATP Cup and reflecting the variety of platforms on which sport is viewed.

The likes of ESPN (Latin America), Eurosport (Scandinavia), Tennis Channel (United States), TSN (Canada), BeIN (France and MENA), TV Asahi (Japan), Sky Deutschland (Germany), and Servus TV (Austria) are among the broadcasters to have secured the rights to the $US15 million prize money event.

Stuart Watts, Chief Operating Officer, ATP Media, said: “The inaugural ATP Cup has attracted worldwide interest from broadcasters and we’re pleased to have reached agreements in more than 180 territories that will ensure that the event gets a worldwide visibility that will be unprecedented in week one of the calendar.”