Tennis Australia has signed an expansive broadcast partnership with Qatar-based network BeIN Sports covering ten territories in Southeast Asia.
BeIN already holds a long-term rights deal with Tennis Australia covering the Middle East and Africa (MENA) region, but has now signed a five-year contract for coverage of the Australian Open in ten Asia-Pacific (APAC) markets.
The territories covered in the agreement include Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
For the first time in Asia, all matches from the Grand Slam tennis tournament’s 16 courts will stream live on the broadcaster’s BeIN Sports Connect digital platform. The network has also committed to broadcasting more than 14 hours of live content from Tennis Australia tournaments on its linear channels.
The deal covers the Australian Open’s qualifying tournament, junior championships, wheelchair championships and legends championships.
Coverage of the tennis major’s Australian and Asia-Pacific wildcard playoffs, as well as the ATP Tour 250 Adelaide International tournament, are also included in the contract.
“As the Grand Slam of Asia-Pacific, we are delighted to extend our agreement with BeIN Sports to cover Southeast Asia, after years of successful collaboration with them in the Middle East and Northern Africa,” said Craig Tiley, tournament director of the Australian Open.
“Our Asian fans treat the Australian Open as their ‘home’ Slam and so it’s fantastic that with BeIN Sports’ innovation and commitment they will now be able to enjoy every main draw match from the AO live across every court here at Melbourne Park.”
The deal with BeIN comes after Tennis Australia and SuperSport confirmed a five-year extension to their long-term Australian Open broadcast deal covering sub-Saharan Africa. The Grand Slam tournament and the Australian tennis body’s buildup events will continue to be aired by the pay-TV broadcaster in 54 markets across the region, including South Africa, until 2026.
The 2022 Australian Open got underway at Melbourne Park on 13th January, running until 30th January.
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