Key Takeaways
- Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday announced a 10-year contract with the French Tennis Federation to broadcast the French Open in the U.S. beginning in 2025.
- The deal reportedly is worth about $65 million per year.
- WBD, which will be taking over the rights from NBC and Tennis Channel, will broadcast the Grand Slam event on its TNT, TBS, and truTV networks, as well as its Max streaming service.
- The news comes as WBD’s TNT is trying to retain valuable NBA rights it’s held since 1989.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is expanding its reach into live sports by picking up a 10-year contract to broadcast the French Open tennis tournament, also known as Roland-Garros, in the U.S. beginning in 2025.
The company said the deal between its TNT Sports division and the French Tennis Federation will provide coverage on its TNT, TBS, and truTV networks, as well as its Max streaming channel.
Financial terms were not disclosed, although The Athletic reported Friday that it was worth an average of $65 million per year, up from the expiring 12-year deal worth an average of $12 million a year. News of the deal was first reported by Variety on Friday.
TNT Sports Taking Over Rights From NBC, Tennis Channel
The matches had been broadcast on Comcast’s (CMCSA) NBC and Peacock streaming service, as well as Sinclair’s (SGBI) Tennis Channel. Following the men’s final won by Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday, NBC’s Noah Eagle announced that TNT Sports would be taking over the U.S. broadcast rights. NBC had the U.S. broadcast rights since 1983.
TNT Sports Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Luis Silberwasser said adding the tennis Grand Slam event “perfectly aligns with our global sports strategy and our commitment to adding premium live sports content to our TNT Sports portfolio.”
Warner Bros. Discovery noted that the agreement builds on its 35-year relationship with Eurosport, which distributes the French Open to 55 countries outside the U.S.
WBD’s TNT Also Trying To Retain NBA Rights
The news comes as WBD’s TNT is trying to retain valuable NBA rights it’s held since 1989. According to The Athletic, the NBA has a framework agreement with a new partner, Amazon’s (AMZN) Amazon Prime Video, for $1.8 billion per season and an outline for an agreement at $2.6 billion per year with longtime rights holder ESPN of The Walt Disney Co. (DIS). Both The Athletic and The Wall Street Journal have reported that NBC is prepared to pay $2.5 billion a year to get back NBA rights it last held in 2002.
Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery fell 1% to close Tuesday’s session at $8.04, while Sinclair stock fell 1.4% to $12.04. Comcast shares fell 1.2% to $38.32. All three are in negative territory this year, with WBD shares down about 30%.