Nine is set to build on the success of its 2019 tennis coverage with an expanded cross-platform slate featuring the new ATP Cup, which will premiere as the lead-in to the Australian Open.
Nine will use the 9Gem multi-channel to expand its coverage of the 2020 Australian Open and ensure TV viewers have greater choice over the games they watch.
This expanded free-to-air coverage is in addition to 9Now carrying every game of the tournament live.
Nine director of sport Tom Malone told AdNews that while the network was hesitant to predict numbers for the event, it had high expectations for the expanded broadcast strategy.
He and Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley remained hopefully that the commercial partnership between the two organisations would continue to grow interest in the event both on-ground and through the broadcast.
Last year Nine reported that over 14.4 million Australian's had tuned into the overall Summer of Tennis.
Malone says Nine is also confident in the growth of its digital viewing, with broadcast video on demand (BVOD) platform 9Now recording over 4.4 million stream starts for the tennis and 120 million minutes streamed.
"This summer can only get bigger and better. The increased investment we are putting into the lead up to the open, opening the door to more tournaments, creating vinettes in the lead up and creating extended programming throughout the Open can only lead to more engagement," Malone says.
"Not only we will have an additional two days of coverage on 9Gem, showing more matches on linear TV than in 2019, this is part of our expanded coverage which will capitalise on the great lead-in offered by the ATP Cup. This will build national momentum in the run-up to the hugely successful Australian Open.”
Nine will also be home to the new ATP Cup, a men’s tournament between competing nations which will feature 24 teams and have the highest prizemoney outside of a major grand slam.
"When it comes to free-to-air numbers it's always a challenging exercise to maintain and grow but we hope that together through this partnership we will be able to provide enough content for as long as we can to ensure that success," Tiley says.
This year’s summer of tennis will start in November with world no. 1 Ash Barty leading Australia in the final of the Fed Cup, followed by the Davis Cup finals from Spain.
Then the Brisbane International, Hobart International and then Adelaide International – together with the ATP Cup - all leading into the Australian Open.
Nine will offer also commercial partners new ways of integrating into the Australian Open, building on its innovative cross-platform pillar strategy of 2019.
This creates bespoke opportunities around the tournament for a range of clients in areas such as news, sport, lifestyle and entertainment.
"We have more assets to sell across, more use of multichannels and shows that we are developing specifically for the event,
"When we struck this deal with Tennis Australia it was before our merger with Fairfax but now that we are fully integrated with that business as well, we are looking to go to market with brands like Good Weekend, Good Food and Traveller.
"This exciting obviously not simply from a consumer perspective but commercially as well as we look to bring the full weight of the 'new Nine' assets to promote and commercialise the Australian Open."
Malone added that consumers and brands should be prepared to see the "evolution and growth" of integrated campaigns including the Cannes Lion-winning Uber Eats AO work.
“In 2019, we clearly demonstrated what we could do for marketers around the Australian Open with exciting new activations that delivered real results for brands likes Kia, Peters and Uber Eats,” Nine’s director of sales - sports Matt Granger says.
“Next year’s tournament will be no different, with a range of bespoke solutions being developed for clients that seek to capitalise on the truly unique nature of tennis in January. Last year we showed that there is no other event like the Australian Open, which captures fans across the areas of food, kids, music, and of course tennis itself.”
The new opportunities around the Australian Open in 2020 include:
- Publishing – Nine will look to develop a Good Weekend edition for the Australian Open, titled Good AO, which will be the "bible on the Open", with experiences, advice on food/restaurants around the Grand Slam event, and distribution across Sydney and Melbourne.
- Digital – AO Essential will be a dedicated 9Now program, including highlight packages and moments from the previous day’s play.
- Television/Digital – a weekend television show launching in October which will cater to fans and fanatics who want to know everything about the run-up to the Australian Open.
- Television/Digital – Behind the Racquet – a 60 Minutes feature special which will go behind the scenes at the Australian Open and show viewers what exactly goes into creating a Grand Slam tennis event.
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