Nine to clinch Australian Open tennis deal for $500m

Media giant Nine Entertainment Co is poised to sign a $500 million extension of its broadcast deal with Tennis Australia, giving it the rights to air the Australian Open tournament for five more years until 2030. The extension, which industry sources said was agreed in principle over the weekend, comes as Nine and its rivals Seven and Paramount gear up for what is expected to be a pivotal fight over Cricket Australia’s next broadcast rights package, which includes rights to Test matches and the Big Bash League from 2025 onwards. Tennis Australia boss Craig Tiley has secured another major broadcast deal. Credit:Eddie Jim Nine’s tennis deal could be worth about $105 million a year - or $525 million over five years - including advertising credits or “contra”, according to the sources who could not speak publicly because the talks are confidential. This would be a significant increase on the agreement struck between the two companies in 2018 and substantially higher than Tennis Australia’s last deal with Seven in 2014, which was worth about $35 million annually. Nine, the owner of this masthead, declined to comment. A TA spokesperson said: “We continue to have productive conversations. No deal has been done.”

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