WTA Tour broadcast coverage has returned to the Middle East and North Africa following a near three-year blackout with DAZN committing to free streaming until the end of the 2024 season, SportBusiness understands.
The decision to stream the remaining tournaments free to registered users comes after DAZN, through its Broadcast Partnerships arm, attempted to sell media rights in Mena from 2024 to 2026 in a sales process initiated in April.
WTA Media, the joint venture that includes DAZN, looked to use the award of the WTA Finals rights to Saudi Arabia as a hook to land the first pan-regional rights deal since an agreement with beIN Sports expired at the end of 2021. The blackout left local viewers disappointed, particularly given the rise of Ons Jabeur. By winning the 2022 Madrid Open – a WTA 1000 event – she became the first female Tunisian and Arab player to win at that level.
Complex negotiations with beIN, wrapped up in long-running talks with Qatari authorities over the Doha WTA Tour event and a potential sponsorship deal, have been the main contributor to the region remaining dark, as analysed today (Wednesday) by SportBusiness Media.
DAZN’s free streaming began on Monday with coverage of the WTA 250 event from Monastir in Tunisia and will conclude with the WTA Finals from Riyadh from November 2 to 9. Coverage of the Finals will be geo-blocked in Saudi Arabia as domestic rights to each event are sold separately.
WTA Tour events also streamed by DAZN in the next two months include the WTA 500 Guadalajara Open Akron, the WTA 500 Korea Open, the WTA 1000 China Open and the WTA 1000 Wuhan Open.
The WTA streaming output adds to DAZN’s portfolio in Mena as it looks to expand in the region and further develop its relationships with Saudi Arabia.
Events held in the Kingdom and streamed globally by the broadcaster include Riyadh Season boxing fights, the Esports World Cup, the World Masters of Snooker and the Saudi Women’s Premier League. DAZN also has an exclusive deal with PGA Tour Pass in the region and holds exclusive Saudi Pro League rights in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Canada.
ANALYSIS: DAZN ‘sells’ WTA Tour rights to itself in Mena after three-year absence
The WTA Tour rights were taken to market in the Mena region alongside rights to Fiba basketball properties. Fiba Media, the joint venture entity set up with DAZN, offered a package of rights with the tentpole event being the 2027 Fiba Basketball World Cup to be held in Qatar. The WTA request for proposals (RFP) mirrored the Riyadh hosting length, running for the next three years.
The pan-regional WTA RFP is understood to have been sent to 16 broadcasters and six agencies. The package included over 800 live concurrent matches per year.
DAZN is now in its final cycle of representing the WTA rights in a 10-year global broadcast rights and production deal. The WTA and the men’s ATP are on the cusp of combining their commercial interests but the RFP included rights to the WTA alone.
In 2026, WTA Media will be dissolved. Its role is being taken over by WTA Ventures, the company created in March 2023 when private equity firm CVC Capital Partners took a 20-per-cent stake in the WTA’s commercial rights for $150m (€134m).