U.S. Open Tennis moves to ESPN in '15

[Rollo-Smokes]

The United States Tennis Association will end its 46-year relationship with CBS in two years. The Worldwide Leader in Sports gets exclusivity for a 11-year period. That means ESPN now has rights to three-fourths of the Grand Slam (Australian Open and Wimbledon are the others), leaving only the French Open on broadcast network television. NBC has that locked through 2024.

And so goes another holiday TV tradition...no more tennis on CBS on Labor Day after next year. On the flip-side, the affiliates should be happy that they won't have to worry about potential weather-related preemptions much longer.

From The New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/sports/tennis/ending-an-era-the-us-open-will-move-to-espn.html

 

[arnoldevns]

At what point does ESPN become a monopoly that gets broken up by a lawsuit? They're getting real close and are already acting monopolistic. This is more ammo for critics.

 

[KeithE4]

At what point does ESPN become a monopoly that gets broken up by a lawsuit? They're getting real close and are already acting monopolistic. This is more ammo for critics.

They're not even close to a monopoly. When it comes to national broadcast rights, they have a small part of the NFL, half of MLB, half the NBA, and none of the NHL. It is in college sports that they have a major chunk, and even then it's not a monopoly, although bowl games are close.

The problem with ESPN is that they seem to want to be more important than the events they broadcast. Sorry folks, it ain't that way. I watch Monday Night Football because it's NFL football - it just happens to be carried on ESPN now instead of ABC. If MNF were to go to TNT, I'd be watching TNT on Monday nights. The fact that it's on ESPN is irrelevant as far as my enjoyment of the game is concerned. The game is the important thing, and the rest of the self-serving drivel that ESPN broadcasts (Around The Horn, PTI, the ESPYs, even Sportscenter) is meaningless.

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

I, too can't stomach ESPN much beyond the actual game coverage, and for me they're only good for Sunday Night Baseball involving the Yankees. Too much hyperbole, too many talking heads, too much arrogance.

What's worse, all the young wanna-be sportscasters (read: A.J. Clemente-types) are of the ESPN generation and are pretty much as indistinguishable as blonde pop music starlets. The damage is much more far-reaching than one thinks.

 

[Rube Dali the DodoHorse]

At what point does ESPN become a monopoly that gets broken up by a lawsuit?  They're getting real close and are already acting monopolistic. This is more ammo for critics.

They're not even close to a monopoly.  When it comes to national broadcast rights, they have a small part of the NFL, half of MLB, half the NBA, and none of the NHL.  It is in college sports that they have a major chunk, and even then it's not a monopoly, although bowl games are close.

It could become a monopoly on bowl games soon. They're going to air the Cotton Bowl(Surprised this hasn't been made official) as part of the College Football Playoff, they might get their hands on the Sun Bowl and are likely to retain everything else in their steed. Now, I'm not sure if ESPN would be liable to be sued on Sherman Act grounds, but it's possible.

You also have to look at this move(the loss of the US Open) as something of a positive for CBS, as it can air SEC games in the first two weeks, and they now have the opprotunity to air NFL games late in week 1.

And lastly, I'm stunned as to how much ESPN is overpaying for this. They must have more faith in Sloane Stephens and Mardy Fish than I do. Once the Williams Sisters start going downhill, I don't see American tennis making a comeback.

 

[Morgan Wick]

At what point does ESPN become a monopoly that gets broken up by a lawsuit? They're getting real close and are already acting monopolistic. This is more ammo for critics.

They're not even close to a monopoly. When it comes to national broadcast rights, they have a small part of the NFL, half of MLB, half the NBA, and none of the NHL. It is in college sports that they have a major chunk, and even then it's not a monopoly, although bowl games are close.

It could become a monopoly on bowl games soon. They're going to air the Cotton Bowl(Surprised this hasn't been made official) as part of the College Football Playoff, they might get their hands on the Sun Bowl and are likely to retain everything else in their steed. Now, I'm not sure if ESPN would be liable to be sued on Sherman Act grounds, but it's possible.

You also have to look at this move(the loss of the US Open) as something of a positive for CBS, as it can air SEC games in the first two weeks, and they now have the opprotunity to air NFL games late in week 1.

And lastly, I'm stunned as to how much ESPN is overpaying for this. They must have more faith in Sloane Stephens and Mardy Fish than I do. Once the Williams Sisters start going downhill, I don't see American tennis making a comeback.

FS1 is going to be interested in picking up bowl games as well.

Tennis tends to attract a more affluent clientele, so it's worth more than its ratings would suggest; that's why CBS was willing to sacrifice football coverage to it for so long. Besides, ESPN has enough money to ensure no one else can get the rights to anything ever again

 

[Rube Dali the DodoHorse]

FS1 is going to be interested in picking up bowl games as well.

I'm not sure if FS1 can get any games. I think the bowls like being on an ESPN network, and like a cookroach in a roach motel, you can never escape. The only bowl I could see getting out of ESPN's orbit is the Gator Bowl, but it might depend on what conferences are interested in the bowl.

 

[umfan]

Not a tennis fan myself, but it's a shame another event will only be available in Pay-TV.

 

[MarcB]

Not a tennis fan myself, but it's a shame another event will only be available in Pay-TV.

Yep.

It's funny. People who are Redsox Fans refer to The Yankees as being "The Evil Empire" - yet 21 Yankees Games a year plus a handful a games on FOX are on Free-TV. All Redsox games except for a couple games on FOX are on Pay-TV. Now tell me who's "evil".

 

[ixnay]

And so goes another holiday TV tradition...no more tennis on CBS on Labor Day after next year. On the flip-side, the affiliates should be happy that they won't have to worry about potential weather-related preemptions much longer.

Elsewhere on the flipside, fans of The Young and the Restless can look forward to watching same on Labor Day beginning in 2015 (assuming it's still on the Eye then).

ixnay

 

[PTBoardOp94]

I'm not sure if FS1 can get any games. I think the bowls like being on an ESPN network, and like a cookroach in a roach motel, you can never escape. The only bowl I could see getting out of ESPN's orbit is the Gator Bowl, but it might depend on what conferences are interested in the bowl.

Plus, a third of the bowls games (e.g. Beef O'Brady's Bowl, Military Bowl, New Mexico Bowl) are actually owned by Disney.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

The problem for CBS trying to retain the U.S. Open Tennis championship might have been the NFL.

As it is, with no 4:25 P.M. EDT game on the first week of the season, every game involving an AFC team as a visiting club has to be either a 1:05 EDT start, or be a Thursday night (but only if one of the two teams involved,m preferably the home team, is the defending Super Bowl champion), on Sunday night, or Monday night. That stymies the NFL schedule on the first week of the season.

It's also possible future NFL TV deals that conceivably could give CBS and Fox doubleheaders every Sunday of the season (although I believe that is not in the current TV deals).

If the U.S. Tennis Association were serious about sticking with CBS, they could have moved the tournament up one week so the Men's finals could have been the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, one week prior to the NFL season starting. Possibly, such an arrangement could have had the Women's finals starting at 12:30 P.M. EDT, and the Men's finals beginning at approximately 2:30 P.M. EDT.

While it may have drawn fewer viewers than a final the week after Labor Day, one advantage would have been that barring a rain delay or long tiebreakers, the tennis presentation would have wrapped-up around 6 P.M. EDT allowing local CBS stations to have had their regular early-evening local and network newscasts and allowing the CBS prime-time schedule to start on-time.

My guess is that CBS walked away from the U.S. Tennis Open, possibly because of the "NFL problem", if not now, then maybe "down the line".

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

And so goes another holiday TV tradition...no more tennis on CBS on Labor Day after next year.

First Jerry Lewis and the MDA telethon (sans Lewis) relegated to three hours on Sunday night, now this (even though I'm not a tennis fan).

 

[Rollo-Smokes]

Don't forget the rest of CBS's daytime lineup, even if the only all-new episodes on a holiday will be from Y&R and The Bold and the Beautiful.

 

[KTU_Fan]

The problem for CBS trying to retain the U.S. Open Tennis championship might have been the NFL.

If the U.S. Tennis Association were serious about sticking with CBS, they could have moved the tournament up one week so the Men's finals could have been the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, one week prior to the NFL season starting. Possibly, such an arrangement could have had the Women's finals starting at 12:30 P.M. EDT, and the Men's finals beginning at approximately 2:30 P.M. EDT.

Moving up the US Open would mean moving up other tournaments or even cancelling one along the way. I'm sure other sponsors wouldnt like that

 

[ShawnHill1]

The problem for CBS trying to retain the U.S. Open Tennis championship might have been the NFL.

My guess is that CBS walked away from the U.S. Tennis Open, possibly because of the "NFL problem", if not now, then maybe "down the line".

On the other side of that, the U.S. Open may have been one of the reasons why the NFL regular season has started the second Sunday of each September at least since Roger Goddell has been NFL commissioner. The NFL regular season typically started the Sunday of Labor Day weekend each year for as long as anyone can remember. Maybe now with this development, the NFL season could start the Thursday before Labor Day, as opposed as to the Thursday after.

 

[KeithE4]

On the other side of that, the U.S. Open may have been one of the reasons why the NFL regular season has started the second Sunday of each September at least since Roger Goddell has been NFL commissioner. The NFL regular season typically started the Sunday of Labor Day weekend each year for as long as anyone can remember. Maybe now with this development, the NFL season could start the Thursday before Labor Day, as opposed as to the Thursday after.

Labor Day weekend being the start of the college football season may have something to do with it. So might the fact that the Super Bowl is the first week of February - a sweeps month - with this week-after-Labor Day start.

 

[jwk1979]

On the other side of that, the U.S. Open may have been one of the reasons why the NFL regular season has started the second Sunday of each September at least since Roger Goddell has been NFL commissioner. The NFL regular season typically started the Sunday of Labor Day weekend each year for as long as anyone can remember. Maybe now with this development, the NFL season could start the Thursday before Labor Day, as opposed as to the Thursday after.

Actually, the week-end after Labor Day has been the start of the NFL season since at least the late 90s, long before Roger Goddell was the NFL Comissioner. In fact, Paul Tagliabue (SP) was the comissioner that started the NFL season back from Labor Day Week-end to the following week-end.

 

[justpassingthough]

I don't know that the NFL would be happy with the eyeballs that they would lose by starting the Thursday before or on Labor Day weekend. Many Americans travel or are attending parties that weekend- as its sort of the unofficial ending of summer.

Tennis is much more of a niche sport and isn't expected to deliver the amount of viewers that professional football does- while college football is probably just glad they have one weekend to themselves on Sportscenter before all the NFL rambling gets underway.

 

[KeithE4]

Tennis is much more of a niche sport and isn't expected to deliver the amount of viewers that professional football does- while college football is probably just glad they have one weekend to themselves on Sportscenter before all the NFL rambling gets underway.

The NFL's preseason week 4 is the same day that college football starts (all games on Thursday 8/29 this year, but some years they also play on Friday), and their final roster cutdowns are that weekend. So there is plenty of NFL talk on ESPN by the time college football starts, starting in late July when training camps open.