PARIS, March 13, 2018 (Press Release)
The French Tennis Federation is delighted to have signed partnership agreements with FOX SPORTS and SBS to broadcast Roland-Garros in Australia from 2018 to 2020.
Within the scope of these new arrangements, television channels FOX SPORTS and SBS – the tournament’s brand-new free-to-air broadcaster – will show the women’s and men’s singles matches live.
FOX SPORTS will continue to be the only place to watch LIVE, HD and start-to-finish coverage of Roland-Garros, from the opening day, to the Men’s and Women’s Finals. FOX SPORTS viewers will receive the most comprehensive daily coverage, which includes the first three hours of each day’s play EXCLUSIVELY LIVE in prime-time, from 7pm [local time]. FOX SPORTS will simulcast all matches from the Quarter Finals onwards with SBS.
All matches available on FOX SPORTS will also be streamed LIVE via Foxtel’s new streaming service, Foxtel Now.
SBS will broadcast live action from rounds 1-4 from 10pm each night, with the men’s and women’s singles matches shown in full from the quarter final stage onwards. Streaming service SBS On Demand will live stream these televised matches and provide extended match highlights for catch up.
“We are especially delighted to have signed these contracts with FOX SPORTS and SBS. They will enable us to guarantee great visibility for the tournament and will help us to increase Roland-Garros’ influence in this part of the world, which has a real tennis culture. This agreement ties in perfectly with the tournament’s international development,” explained Bernard Giudicelli, French Tennis Federation’s President.
“As the home of Roland-Garros for the past 20 years, it’s fantastic to extend this strong partnership. We’ve just witnessed an incredible fortnight of action at the Australian Open with Federer claiming his 20th Grand Slam and Wozniacki securing her maiden title, and interest in tennis continues to grow.
“FOX SPORTS and Foxtel’s streaming service, Foxtel Now, will be the only place to watch the stars back in Grand Slam action with start to finish coverage of Roland-Garros. This adds to our premium tennis offering, with live coverage of Wimbledon and the US Open also available on the Foxtel platform.” said Foxtel CEO, Patrick Delany.
“Australians love the drama and excitement of Grand Slam tennis, and SBS is pleased to broadcast the Roland-Garros tournament for the first time this year. SBS continues to secure rights to premier global sporting events which bring together players and fans from many diverse cultures, and for two weeks in May and June, SBS will be the free-to-air destination for Australian tennis fans”, said Ken Shipp, SBS Director of Sport.
