ESPN360.com, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Reach Agreement for Live Online Coverage

More Than 150 Hours of Top Women’s Tennis to be Streamed to U.S. Tennis Fans

May 8, 2008 -- ESPN360.com and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour announced a new agreement today that will provide tennis fans with more than 150 hours of live online tennis coverage from Sony Ericsson WTA Tour events around the world. The agreement will provide ESPN360.com viewers exclusive coverage, including more than 70 scheduled matches at 11 events on 49 days between May and November.

Live online coverage begins tomorrow, Thursday, May 8, with live coverage from The Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin and will conclude with coverage of the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha.

Additionally, matches will be available for on-demand replay for at least 48 hours after their completion.

“ESPN360.com exists to serve the passions of sports fans, and there are few groups of fans as passionate as the tennis community,” said Damon Phillips, vice president, ESPN360.com. “Adding such a robust schedule of events that feature the world’s top women’s tennis players will deliver a huge value to millions of tennis fans, as well as to ESPN360.com affiliates.”

Michael Rowe, Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Vice-President Television and Digital Media, added: “The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is thrilled to have ESPN360.com as a new media partner. This agreement not only vastly expands the presence of live Tour tennis on the internet but allows new and existing tennis fans access to more live action, more of the time. To develop the online and digital output with a world-renowned sports broadcaster like ESPN360.com is very exciting for women’s tennis.”

ESPN360.com’s schedule of Sony Ericsson WTA Tour coverage also includes the following events: Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, Italy; International Women’s Open in Eastbourne, UK; Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada; Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan; China Open in Beijing, China; Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany; Kremlin Cup in Moscow, Russia; Zurich Open in Zurich, Switzerland; Generali Ladies Linz in Linz, Austria; and Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Live ESPN360.com coverage of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour
Date                                   Location            Event                                               # of Matches

May 8 – 11                       Berlin                   Qatar Telecom German Open               9

May 12 – 18                     Rome                   Internazionali BNL d’Italia                     12

June 19 -23                      Eastbourne           International Women’s Open                  4

July 28-Aug 3                   Montreal               Rogers Cup                                          9

Sept. 20 – 21                   Tokyo                   Toray Pan Pacific Open                         3

Sept. 26 -28                     Beijing                  China Open                                          4

Sept. 30 – Oct. 5             Stuttgart                Porsche Tennis Grand Prix                   15

Oct. 6 -12                        Moscow                Kremlin Cup                                        11

Oct. 14 – 19                    Zurich                    Zurich Open                                        9

Oct. 23 – 30                    Linz                       Generali Ladies Linz                            9

Nov. 3 – 9                       Doha                      Sony Ericsson Championships             15

The deal marks the latest addition to ESPN360.com’s global tennis lineup that features hundreds of hours of multi-court coverage from top tennis events, including three of the four tennis majors -- the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon.

In addition to the agreement with ESPN360.com, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has made significant strides in 2008 in progressing and enhancing its digital presence and output via the website – sonyericssonwtatour.com. Not only with live streaming of selected Tier 1 Finals but also the Video on Demand presented by Dubai Duty Free application, offering action highlights from tournaments and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of life on the Tour.

About ESPN360.com

ESPN360.com delivers more than 2,500 live global sports events a year. The service is available at no additional charge to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection from an affiliated service provider, and is currently available in approximately 23 million homes nationwide. It has nearly tripled its distribution since November 2006, and is available via more than 20 Internet service providers around the country including AT&T, Verizon, RCN, Insight, Frontier, Cavalier, Charter, Mediacom, Conway, Grande Communications and many more. It is also available at no cost to approximately 18 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via on-campus educational and military networks (those with “.edu” and “.mil” domains).

As a leading destination for live coverage of global tennis, ESPN360.com allows fans to get a fuller viewing experience, capable of providing extensive multi-court coverage of top tennis events.

Consumers in the U.S. wanting more information about ESPN360.com, which Internet services currently provide it, and how they can get it should go to espn360.com.

About Sony Ericsson WTA Tour

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is the world’s largest premier professional sport for women with more than 2,000 players representing 90 nations competing for $70.8 million in prize money at the Tour’s 60 events in 34 countries. More than 4.7 million people attended women’s tennis events in 2007 with millions more watching events on television networks around the world. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season concludes with the Sony Ericsson Championships – Doha 2008 in Doha, Qatar, November 4-9, 2008.

Further information on the Tour can be found on the Internet at sonyericssonwtatour.com

Source: ESPN

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