TSN and RDS recently extended their partnership with the United States Tennis Association, with the signing of an 11-year multimedia rights agreement for coverage of the US Open Tournament.

The new deal will see TSN and RDS become the exclusive Canadian broadcasters of the tournament starting in 2015. This marks a first for the sports specialty channel, which has had to compete with CBS since acquiring the rights in 1984. The development came about because ESPN secured exclusive rights to the tournament in the US, preventing it from being broadcast on conventional channels.

Also starting in 2015, ESPN will cover every match including the early-round matches, the round of 16, the quarter-finals, the semifinals and the finals. As a result, TSN will serve up more than 130 hours of cross-platform coverage of US Open tennis each year.

While the core audience for tennis on TSN is adults aged 25 to 54, Shawn Redmond, VP of programming, TSN, tells MiC that the US Open often reaches a broader audience because it’s the only tournament that’s broadcast during primetime in North America.

He adds that the tournament is an integral part of TSN’s strategy to ensure it offers tennis fans access to all four tennis Grand Slams.

Redmond says that TSN will continue to offer traditional TV and digital ad and sponsorship opps around its tennis coverage, noting that the increased coverage starting in 2015 will present clients with even more opportunities to advertise across all of its platforms.

Photo: ebbandflowphotography, Flickr Creative Commons.