Alongside the multibillion-pound battle for Premier League TV rights, tennis has emerged as another key offering in the broadcasters\u2019 scrap for subscribers for one simple reason: unlike every other sporting audience in the UK, the majority of those watching are women.<\/p>\n
Sky Sports has been showing live tennis for about 12 hours each day from the US Open for the last fortnight, the midpoint of a five\u2011year deal that began in 2023 and that signalled its return to a sport it had in effect abandoned six years previously. Preliminary talks with the United States Tennis Association over a new contract are expected to take place after the conclusion of the championships in New York, with Sky eager to\u00a0extend.<\/p>\n
Beyond the US Open, Sky<\/a> signed a five-year deal for exclusive rights for all ATP and WTA Tour events last year, with the managing director, Jonathan Licht, revealing such investments are part of a deliberate attempt to attract more female viewers to a network that remains largely the televisual sanctuary of middle-aged men.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been investing in sports that resonate with women, like tennis, where 58% of viewers are female,\u201d Licht says. \u201cBy creating content that speaks to women, we\u2019ve increased our share of total TV viewing in the home by 27% among women over the past five years. We\u2019re on track to have more women watch Sky this year than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike every other sporting audience in the UK, the majority of those watching tennis are women. Photograph: Clive Brunskill\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Sky\u2019s move into tennis represents a major U-turn. When the broadcaster launched individual sport channels in 2017 it was not part of its portfolio, with Amazon Prime subsequently picking up the US Open and both tours on the cheap.<\/p>\n The results of Sky\u2019s new strategy have been spectacular, with its overall tennis audience growing 30% year-on-year, while the 58% female viewership referenced by Licht is also increasing, up from 53% last year. \u201cNo sport comes close to tennis in terms of female viewership,\u201d says Yath Gangakumaran, Sky Sports\u2019 executive director of commercial.<\/p>\n Sky Sports\u2019 overall audience is 31% female this year, with the contrast between tennis and women\u2019s football particularly stark. An average Premier League game attracts 30% female viewers, which drops to 27% for an EFL fixture, while the picture is little different for the Women\u2019s Super League, whose audiences are\u00a034%\u00a0female.<\/p>\n The overrepresentation of women amongst tennis audiences is consistent across broadcasters, with the BBC\u2019s live coverage of Wimbledon and Queen\u2019s this year attracting a 58% female audience, in contrast to 44% for the women\u2019s European Championship (it was 45% for ITV, with whom they shared live rights.)<\/p>\n \u201cSport has historically been the preserve of men, really, in terms of viewing,\u201d says Gangakumaran. \u201cWhen it comes to the really big national events you\u2019ll have families who\u2019ll sit and watch, so it skews a bit closer to about 40%. But typically you\u2019re looking at between the 20% and 30% mark for female viewers. Men are generally a bit more interested, and will give up their time to go and watch sport, which suggests a deeper affinity. Or perhaps they just have more time to spare.<\/p>\n \u201cFingers crossed this changes over the next generation. We\u2019re getting away from gender stereotypes and there are clearly more people wanting to have their girls play sport. You\u2019d hope that in the years to come we get closer to 50\/50, but I think it\u2019s going to take quite a while before we get there.<\/p>\n \u201cOur viewing by women is the highest proportion we\u2019ve ever had in Sky Sports\u2019 35-year history, and tennis is playing a big part in that. Formula One is becoming more female as well, and is above the Sky Sports average, but nowhere near what is happening in tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n TNT Sports is also seeking to capitalise on what appears to be a clear trend, having inherited the French Open from its sister company, Eurosport, last year. Its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, has since agreed a new five-year deal for exclusive rights for Roland Garros in Europe until 2030. TNT\u2019s audience for this year\u2019s French Open was 55% female, broadly in line with Sky\u2019s figures, a key reason it has also opted to extend its contract for the Australian Open until 2031.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend\u2019s action<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n The French Open extension was immediately vindicated, with TNT achieving record viewing figures in the UK of more than one million for the Carlos Alcaraz-Jannik Sinner final<\/a> on the day the new contract was announced in June. The Spaniard\u2019s thrilling comeback even attracted a bigger audience than Andy Murray\u2019s defeat by Novak Djokovic<\/a> in Paris in 2016.<\/p>\n Carlos Alcaraz celebrates with his team and family after his victory over Jannik Sinner in the 2025 French Open final. Photograph: Clive Brunskill\/Getty Images<\/p>\n