Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) has inked a three-year deal to broadcast the US Open starting August 2022.
As part of the deal, the broadcaster will get the exclusive media rights (TV and digital) of the global sporting event between 2022-24.
The 2022 iteration of the US Open will be televised on the SPN’s sports channels across the Indian subcontinent – Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Maldives. The matches will also be available to Livestream on their premium OTT platform SonyLIV.
This year’s final Grand Slam, the 2022 US Open, is scheduled to take place between August 29, 2022 – September 11, 2022.
After successfully broadcasting the Australian Open and Roland Garros in 2022, Sony Pictures Networks India aims to repeat the success of the US Open and provide a seamless viewing experience of the hard courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the company said in a statement.
The live coverage of the tournament will begin at 7:30 pm daily on SPN’s sports four channels namely SONY SIX, SONY TEN 2 (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi), and SONY TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels, starting with the single’s quarterfinal matches (September 6, 2022, onwards).
The live coverage of the Grand Slam will include Sony Sports’ flagship LIVE studio show for tennis – Extraaa Serve.
The show will be hosted by Suhail Chandhok and will feature Indian tennis player, Vijay Amritraj, former India’s number one tennis player, Somdev Devvarman, and India Davis Cupper, Purav Raja.
The regional language commentary that starts from the quarterfinals will have former India Davis Cupper and Asian Gold medalist Gaurav Natekar, Manish Batavia, and Atish Thukral provide Hindi commentary.
Joining them in the studio will be Indian Davis Cupper Jeevan Neduncheziyan, Srinivasan Sheshadri, and Arun Venugopal for Tamil commentary along with India Davis Cupper Vishnu Vardhan, Sandeep Kumar, and former India number one Rishika Sunkara for Telugu commentary.
As the home of tennis, Sony has been and will continue to serve the growing tennis fanbase in India, Rajesh Kaul, chief revenue officer, distribution, and head – of sports business, Sony Pictures Networks India, said. “We are pleased to acquire the media rights for the US Open, the final stop of the tennis Grand Slam calendar, which makes us the premier destination for tennis fans in India and the subcontinent,” he added.
“Having a broadcast partner committed to becoming a home for tennis in their region is central to growing fan engagement with the game and is what makes Sony Pictures Networks India a perfect partner for the US Open,” Kirsten Corio, chief commercial officer, USTA, stated.