Sky Sports extends US Open rights to 2030 as tennis delivers a female audience windfall
Sky Sports has agreed a three-year extension to its live UK coverage of the US Open, keeping the final Grand Slam of the year on the broadcaster until 2030. The deal, set to be announced when the singles from Flushing Meadows get under way next week, will see Sky broadcast more than 12 hours of live tennis each day across the tournament's extended three-week schedule. The new agreement also includes coverage of the mixed doubles event, which now takes place the week before the singles begin — a fresh slot designed to give the format its own spotlight. The Guardian
Sky has held exclusive live UK rights to the US Open since 2023, when it replaced Amazon Prime with a five-year deal. That return came after a six-year absence: Sky walked away from tennis in 2017, allowing Amazon to scoop up both the US Open and combined ATP and WTA tour rights. The catalyst for Sky's return was Emma Raducanu. Her 2021 US Open triumph — a qualifier winning a Grand Slam, something never done before in the Open era — persuaded the broadcaster that tennis was worth the investment again.
Raducanu, though, will not be at Flushing Meadows this year. She is sidelined with a stress fracture in her shin, sustained during the build-up to Wimbledon. Her absence takes a British drawcard out of the equation, but the broader audience picture for Sky remains strong.
What makes tennis attractive to Sky is its audience profile. In 2025, around 60% of Sky's tennis viewers were female — almost double the 31% share across its overall coverage. That skew gives the broadcaster a reach into demographics its other sports struggle to touch, and it helps explain why tennis has moved from an afterthought to a pillar of Sky's portfolio.
The US Open is not the only tennis property Sky is committing to. In 2024 the broadcaster agreed a separate five-year deal for exclusive UK rights to both the ATP men's and WTA women's tours, running until 2028. Talks are now under way to extend that partnership further. Together with the US Open renewal, it means Sky is positioning itself as the dominant home of live tennis in Britain — at least for the hard-court and indoor seasons.
The wider UK rights map for the four Grand Slams is split three ways. Wimbledon stays on the BBC, locked in until 2033. TNT Sports holds both the Australian Open and the French Open. And the US Open belongs to Sky, now through to the end of the decade. For fans, that means following the full Grand Slam calendar still requires more than one subscription — but Sky's slice has just got a little bigger and a little longer.
