Staff

Eurosport has struck new four-year deal to show The Championships, Wimbledon, in 11 European markets from 2020.

The channel has secured exclusive live rights to the event in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for the first time, and renewed its agreement in a further nine territories – Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Russia and Sweden – from 2020 until 2023.

This year, Eurosport screened over 600 matches and 250 hours of live coverage from Wimbledon in 33 markets with all courts available on Eurosport’s over-the-top streaming service, Eurosport Player. 

The new deals will ensure the same comprehensive coverage in these markets for the next four editions of the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.  

Andrew Georgiou, President Eurosport and Global Sports Rights and Sports Marketing Solutions, said: “Our commitment to tennis, and its fans, is further strengthened by the addition of exclusive Wimbledon coverage in Czech Republic and Slovakia and the long-term renewal in nine more markets. 

“Eurosport has a proud heritage screening the greatest events on the tennis calendar, with fans recognising our experience in delivering the best storytelling told through the best experts and innovative use of technology. 

“Recent results show that our multi-screen content strategy is driving video and streaming growth for our tennis coverage, engaging and growing audiences on all platforms and all screens.” 

Mick Desmond, Commercial & Media Director at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, welcomed the enhanced partnership with Eurosport: “Europe is a key market for The Championships and we are delighted that Eurosport’s exceptional coverage of Wimbledon will continue to be broadcast from 2020 onwards.”

WWE and BT Sport have announced that NXT will air live in the UK and Ireland for the first time on BT Sport starting this Thursday, January 2 at 1am. NXT’s two-hour weekly show joins Raw and SmackDown on BT Sport, the exclusive live broadcaster of WWE’s flagship programming in the UK and Ireland beginning tomorrow, January 1, 2020.           

NXT UK will also air on BT Sport for the first time on British television.

Simon Green, head of BT Sport, said: “We are looking forward to welcoming WWE to its new home, BT Sport. WWE is something that many of us have grown up with and we look forward to bringing the best of BT Sport to WWE, offering UK fans more access and more content than ever before.”

 Exclusive live coverage of SmackDown will begin at 1am on Saturday, January 4 and Raw at 1am on Tuesday, January 7 on BT Sport 1. BT Sport will show primetime, same day repeats of SmackDown, Raw and NXT. 

Amazon’s Prime Video is promising to broadcast a minimum of 87 tennis tournaments in 2020 across the WTA, ATP Tour and the US Open championships. 

Prime Video will broadcast a minimum of 37 ATP Tour events in 2020, including all ATP Masters 1000s, all ATP 500s, 12 ATP 250s, the ATP Cup and both Next Gen and Nitto ATP Finals. Prime Members can watch and enjoy the first ATP cup tournament from Friday 3rd January – Sunday 12th January, which will show every televised court made available to the service, including the World Feed and two daily highlight shows.

Prime Video has exclusive rights to show the top WTA tournaments in a four-year deal from 2020. Including the four cornerstone Premier Mandatory events of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, the Miami Open presented by Itaú, the Mutua Madrid Open and the China Open in Beijing, along with the season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen, China.

Prime members will be able to watch up to 2,000 live and on demand matches per year from WTA, including 15-year-old Coco Gauff kick off her 2020 campaign as she joins Serena Williams at the ASB Classic in Auckland on 6th January on Prime Video.

The BBC and ITV have confirmed which broadcaster will show their chosen fixtures from next summer’s Euro 2020 which will be held across 12 countries to celebrate 60 years of European Championship competition:

Date	Match	Kick Off (BST)	Location	Broadcaster
12 June	Turkey v Italy	8pm	Stadio Olimpico – Rome	BBC
13 June	Wales v Switzerland	2pm	Baku Olympic Stadium	BBC
13 June	Denmark v Finland	5pm	Parken Stadium – Copenhagen	BBC
13 June	Belgium v Russia	8pm	Krestovsky Stadium – Saint Petersburg	ITV
14 June	England v Croatia	2pm	Wembley Stadium – London	BBC
14 June	Austria v Play-Off Winner D or A*	5pm	Arena Națională – Bucharest	ITV
14 June	Netherlands v Ukraine	8pm	Johan Cruijff ArenA – Amsterdam	ITV
15 June	Play-Off Winner C* v Czech Republic	2pm	Hampden Park – Glasgow	BBC
15 June	Poland v Play-Off Winner B*	5pm	Dublin Arena	ITV
15 June	Spain v Sweden	8pm	San Mamés Stadium – Bilbao	BBC
16 June	Play-Off Winner A or D* v Portugal	5pm	Puskás Aréna – Budapest	ITV
16 June	France v Germany	8pm	Fußball Arena München – Munich	ITV
17 June	Finland v Russia	2pm	Krestovsky Stadium – Saint Petersburg	BBC
17 June	Turkey v Wales	5pm	Baku Olympic Stadium	BBC
17 June	Italy v Switzerland	8pm	Stadio Olimpico – Rome	ITV
18 June	Ukraine v Play-Off Winner D or A*	2pm	Arena Națională – Bucharest	ITV
18 June	Denmark v Belgium	5pm	Parken Stadium – Copenhagen	ITV
18 June	Netherlands v Austria	8pm	Johan Cruijff ArenA – Amsterdam	BBC
19 June	Sweden v Play-Off Winner B*	2pm	Dublin Arena	BBC
19 June	Croatia v Czech Republic	5pm	Hampden Park – Glasgow	BBC
19 June	England v Play-Off Winner C*	8pm	Wembley Stadium – London	ITV
20 June	Play-Off Winner A or D* v France	2pm	Puskás Aréna – Budapest	BBC
20 June	Portugal v Germany	5pm	Fußball Arena München – Munich	ITV
20 June	Spain v Poland	8pm	San Mamés Stadium – Bilbao	BBC
21 June	Italy v Wales	5pm	Stadio Olimpico – Rome	ITV
21 June	Switzerland v Turkey	5pm	Baku Olympic Stadium	ITV
22 June	Play-Off Winner D or A* v Netherlands	5pm	Johan Cruijff ArenA – Amsterdam	ITV
22 June	Ukraine v Austria	5pm	Arena Națională – Bucharest	ITV
22 June	Russia v Denmark	8pm	Parken Stadium – Copenhagen	BBC
22 June	Finland v Belgium	8pm	Krestovsky Stadium – Saint Petersburg	BBC
23 June	Czech Republic v England	8pm	Wembley Stadium – London	ITV
23 June	Croatia v Play-Off Winner C*	8pm	Hampden Park – Glasgow	ITV
24 June	Play-Off Winner B* v Spain	5pm	San Mamés Stadium – Bilbao	ITV
24 June	Sweden v Poland	5pm	Dublin Arena	ITV
24 June	Germany v Play-Off Winner A or D*	8pm	Fußball Arena München – Munich	BBC
24 June	Portugal v France	8pm	Puskás Aréna – Budapest	BBC

* = Play-offs

• Path A: Iceland, Romania, Bulgaria or Hungary
• Path B: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Slovakia or Republic of Ireland
• Path C: Scotland, Israel, Norway or Serbia
• Path D: Georgia, Belarus, North Macedonia or Kosovo

Philip Bernie, BBC Head of TV Sport, says: “This is a strong selection of games for the BBC, that takes in England and Wales’ opening fixtures, and the first two knock-out games that both these home countries would play.

“Away from the home nations, we’re delighted to be able to show viewers key games for some of the giants of European football. The BBC will once again be committed to delivering a 24/7 service to our audiences across TV, radio and online ensuring every key moment is unmissable.”

Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport, says: “ITV will be bringing to viewers comprehensive live coverage of some of the biggest matches in what promises to be a special tournament. Euro 2020 looks set to dominate next summer with so many matches being played in Britain and Ireland and the involvement of England, Wales and hopefully more home nations.

“Our team is looking forward to offering viewers all the action and expert insight across TV, online and social media to make the most of what promises to be a memorable tournament.”

Eurosport has struck a deal with the CANAL+ Group and France Télévisions to secure the exclusive French pay-TV rights for Tokyo 2020 across Eurosport’s linear and digital streaming services. 

France Télévisions remains the official free-to-air broadcaster for Tokyo 2020.
 
Andrew Georgiou, President, Eurosport and Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Solutions, said: “As the Home of the Olympics across Europe, we are delighted to complete our Olympic Games offering by bringing Eurosport’s comprehensive, localized and all-screen coverage to fans in France. 
 
“Eurosport will take consumers and partners on every step of the Olympic Games journey, presenting the ultimate Olympics experience with every minute of Paris 2024, Beijing 2022 and now adding Tokyo 2020 in France.“We look forward to the new opportunities Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will provide for our partners and business in France,” he added. 

In a separate agreement announced earlier this year, France Télévisions will sub-license (from Discovery) exclusive free-to-air audio-visual rights to the 2022 and 2024 editions of the Olympic Games.