Amazon Prime Video is an official streaming partner of the ATP World Tour and will enable worldwide distribution of the Next Gen ATP Finals, the ATP and ATP Media announced Thursday.
The Next Gen ATP Finals is the season-ending tournament for the world’s best 21-and-Under players and is providing an opportunity to test new rules and innovation in the sport. It was announced that this year’s tournament in November will feature Hawk-Eye’s electronic line calling system, eliminating human line judges from the court.
With the streaming deal, Amazon will have worldwide OTT rights for this year’s tournament and 2018 as well, including full exclusive rights in the U.S. to distribute outside the ATP’s OTT channel Tennis TV and excluding China. All Next Gen ATP Finals matches produced by ATP Media will be shown. ATP has also produced three documentaries tracking up-and-coming #NextGenATP players that will air on Amazon Prime Video.
“Innovation is at the heart of everything we’re doing with the Next Gen ATP Finals, and the way in which we present and broadcast the event is central to that,” Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said in a statement. “Our agreement with Amazon will give this year’s inaugural tournament in Milan an international reach in a digital space that is only becoming increasingly important in the world of sport & entertainment.”
Amazon has been snapping up rights to live sports, and the deal sets the stage for the partnership to possibly expand. Amazon had been in the running and appearing to close in on obtaining the rights to stream in the U.K. the major ATP World Tour tournaments — not including the Grand Slam tournaments. Amazon Prime members in the U.K., Germany and Austria already have access to the French Open through Eurosport on Amazon Channels.
In the U.S., Amazon is streaming 11 Thursday Night Football games this season beginning next week.
“We know live sports attracts a passionate fan base, many of whom are Prime members,” Greg Hart, Vice President of Amazon Video, said in a statement. “We are thrilled ATP has awarded distribution rights to Amazon, showing their commitment to streaming live sports.”