Watch WTA Tour Tennis Matches Free with ESPN360
Article by Aaress Lawless on May 8, 2008 | Print | Email | Bookmark
ESPN360.com and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour announced a new agreement on Thursday that will provide tennis fans with more than 150 hours of live online tennis coverage from Sony Ericsson WTA Tour events around the world.
The agreement will provide ESPN360.com viewers exclusive coverage, including more than 70 scheduled matches at 11 events on 49 days between May and November.
Live online coverage begins today, Thursday, May 8, with live coverage from The Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin and will conclude with coverage of the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha.
ESPN360’s service is available at no additional charge to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection from an affiliated service provider, and is currently available in approximately 23 million homes in the United States.
Additionally, matches will be available for on-demand replay for at least 48 hours after their completion.
“ESPN360.com exists to serve the passions of sports fans, and there are few groups of fans as passionate as the tennis community,” said Damon Phillips, vice president, ESPN360.com. “Adding such a robust schedule of events that feature the world’s top women’s tennis players will deliver a huge value to millions of tennis fans, as well as to ESPN360.com affiliates.”
Michael Rowe, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Vice-President Television and Digital Media, added: “The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is thrilled to have ESPN360.com as a new media partner. This agreement not only vastly expands the presence of live Tour tennis on the internet but allows new and existing tennis fans access to more live action, more of the time. To develop the online and digital output with a world-renowned sports broadcaster like ESPN360.com is very exciting for women’s tennis.”
ESPN360.com’s schedule of Sony Ericsson WTA Tour coverage also includes the following events: Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, Italy; International Women’s Open in Eastbourne, UK; Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada; Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan; China Open in Beijing, China; Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany; Kremlin Cup in Moscow, Russia; Zurich Open in Zurich, Switzerland; Generali Ladies Linz in Linz, Austria; and Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar.
The deal marks the latest addition to ESPN360.com’s global tennis lineup that features hundreds of hours of multi-court coverage from top tennis events, including three of the four tennis majors — the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon.
In addition to the agreement with ESPN360.com, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has made significant strides in 2008 in progressing and enhancing its digital presence and output via the website – sonyericssonwtatour.com. Not only with live streaming of selected Tier 1 Finals but also the Video on Demand presented by Dubai Duty Free application, offering action highlights from tournaments and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of life on the Tour.
pov | May 8, 2008 | Reply
That’s great! On the other hand, I still think the WTA tour’s website could use a re-do. Compared to NFL, MLB or NBA sites, it’s really lacking. In fact, even Sharapova’s site offers more and has a better design.
Aaress @ On the Baseline | May 8, 2008 | Reply
I checked out ESPN360 during the Australian Open and LOVED it. Being able to change courts was incredible, plus I enjoyed watching without the commentators.