Eurosport, the channel that has traditionally broadcast the Melbourne tournament, is no longer on Sky
Where can you watch the Australian Open? Still on Eurosport, which has been broadcasting the first Grand Slam tennis tournament since 1995 and holds the exclusive rights through 2031. Starting this year, however, things are changing. The Melbourne tournament is, in fact, the first major Warner Bros. Discovery sporting event that Sky subscribers cannot watch. This is because the lease agreement for Eurosport 1 and 2 expired last summer. This is no minor change, given that over 70% of the two channels’ total viewership came through Sky’s platform.
How has Warner Bros. Discovery addressed this? Essentially in two ways. It has strengthened its distribution partnership with DAZN, which secured a sort of anti-Sky exclusivity in exchange for an increase in the licensing fee. For the Australian Open, DAZN will offer its subscribers, at no additional cost, access to four additional channels in addition to Eurosport 1 and 2, for a total of six simultaneous live feeds. The same applies to Timvision users. Given that Eurosport is also available on Discovery+, the holders of the Melbourne broadcast rights are placing a strong bet on HBO Max, which has just launched in Italy. The streaming platform offers films and TV series from the American group’s extensive library (Marco Bellocchio’s drama *Portobello*, dedicated to the Tortora case, will also be available soon), along with top-tier tennis, the Olympics, and cycling. An HBO Max subscription can also be activated through Amazon Prime Video and Timvision, which in this case act as aggregators. While we wait to see how Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery plays out (excluding linear channels like Eurosport), one thing is certain: this year, to watch all the Grand Slam tournaments, you’ll need two subscriptions. The rights landscape is as follows: the Australian Open and Roland Garros are exclusive to Eurosport; Wimbledon is exclusive to Sky (which also offers all ATP and WTA tournaments, including the Finals); and the U.S. Open is on Sky, simulcast with SuperTennis.
