Women’s tennis fans look to pirated websites to watch matches

While the Australian Open is underway and the tournament is accessible on either ESPN2 or Tennis Channel, fans of women’s tennis have to find creative ways to watch non-Grand Slam tournaments. Thanks to the WTA’s new tennis contracts, women’s tournaments are no longer on Tennis Channel and are now on beIN Sports.

While Tennis Channel has experienced carriage issues, it had major carriers like DirecTV and others with a reach of 50 million homes. But with the WTA on beIN Sports, that number drops to 23.3 million homes leaving fans who were used to seeing women’s tournaments on Tennis Channel scrambling to find other means if they don’t have beIN.

Last year, the WTA signed a five-year, 30-country deal with beIN Sports leaving the ATP on Tennis Channel. In addition, the WTA is developing its own online streaming service, but that won’t be ready until April according to the New York Times.

One of the Australisn Open tune-ups had its men’s tournament aired on Tennis Channel while the women’s side was on beIN Sports. And because beIN is not as widely distributed, fans had to resort to finding access through the internet and find pirated streams. Some family members who wanted to watch their relatives play had to log onto these pirated websites, some located in the Ukraine.

While the money from beIN Sports was most likely tough to turn down for the WTA, it leads to some maddening and frustrating times for those who want to watch the sport. And some who were not aware that of the new TV contract, it leads to confusion.

Players who know that the sport needs promotion especially in the United States aren’t happy that they can’t be viewed on a mass scale.

Perhaps beIN Sports will grow in 2017, but it has a long way to go to match Tennis Channel’s viewership. And for the WTA, it could be a long time to reach critical mass.

[New York Times]