USTA Invests in Tennis Channel
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 12/10/2006 7:03:00 PM
The United States Tennis Association is expected to announce Monday that it is taking an undisclosed minority stake in The Tennis Channel.
As part of the deal, terms of which were not disclosed, the sport’s domestic governing body will also become observers on Tennis Channel’s board of directors and play an active role in the direction of the brand and the network.
The parties already had a relationship through Tennis Channel’s coverage of segments of the U.S. Open series, 10 hard-court events that lead up to the U.S. Open, the grand slam the USTA owns and operates. Tennis also televises Davis Cup and Fed Cup action, the respective men’s and women’s international team competitions, whose U.S. team members are selected by the USTA.
“Having the largest tennis organization in the world and one of America’s oldest and most prestigious governing bodies invest significantly in one of the media industry’s newest brands is a unique and exciting proposition,” Tennis Channel chairman and CEO Ken Solomon said in a prepared statement.
“For the people who run the sport in the United States to share a role in the growth of this network amounts to an extremely gratifying vote of confidence," he added. "We look forward to working closely with the board, staff and entire USTA family.”
