SPORTRADAR TEAMS UP WITH PLAYSIGHT, TENNIS CHANNEL AND BASE TENNIS ACADEMY FOR THE TENNIS POINT EXHIBITION SERIES

This weekend’s first Exo-Tennis event will be streamed live on Tennis Channel’s new OTT app – Tennis Channel International

As live sport starts to slowly return, Sportradar, the global provider of sports content and intelligence, today announced partnerships with PlaySight Interactive and Base Tennis Academy to launch the Tennis Point Exhibition Series, a three date series of events starting in Germany this Friday, 1 May.

The four day event, featuring eight top men’s players from the ATP ranks, will be streamed live via Tennis Channel’s new Over-the-Top (OTT) platform – Tennis Channel International. Utilising Sportradar’s market leading OTT platform, Tennis Channel International is available as a paid for app to tennis fans in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, and was launched this week with a one month free trial. The service is also available on Tennis Channel’s www.tennischanneleverywhere.com website.

Organised and hosted by Base Tennis Academy at their sports complex in Höhr-Grenzhausen, Sportradar is delivering a range of live tennis content solutions directly from the event. This includes data production, using data collection software which the umpires will use to score matches and transmit data back to Sportradar.

Additional live content from the event includes a state-of-the-art audio-visual offering. Working alongside PlaySight Interactive, Sportradar’s live video content will feature a seven camera production, with live mixing and replays, graphics and German commentary. 

Sportradar is also providing integrity monitoring services for the event series, with this weekend’s fixture being one of the first to take place between ATP ranked players since professional tennis was suspended in early March due to the coronavirus outbreak.

David Lampitt, Managing Director Sport Partnerships at Sportradar, said: “This is a significant moment as we move to bring back live tennis. The players have received compliance clearance from the ATP and TIU to participate in the events and we will be monitoring event progress, as well as providing remote production services to maximise safety on-site.

“We’re tapping into the full breadth of our technological capabilities to deliver safely and responsibly at this time for our partners.” 

Playsight Managing Director Rodney Rapson said: “We have enjoyed a strong working relationship with Sportradar in other past endeavours, and are excited to lead the return of tennis with them – in a safe and responsible manner.

“We are taking the opportunity to utilize video and production technology in new ways to provide the very best viewing experience for tennis players around the world, while ensuring stringent compliance with Germany’s coronavirus measures.”

Andy Reif, Senior Vice President, Tennis Channel International, added: “Sportradar is an integral partner in the global rollout of Tennis Channel International and the platform’s ongoing performance for our customers.

“Once live tennis returns, we are especially excited to introduce MatchCast, our new play-by-play and statistics graphical interface powered by Sportradar that will allow tennis fans to follow live competition around the world in real time with dynamic graphics, advanced data and statistical information you can’t find anywhere else.”

Base Tennis Director Ruben Herrera added: “At Base Tennis, we asked ourselves a simple question: what can we do today that will help serve the tennis community’? We wanted to bring the joy of tennis back to peoples’ lives, and that is how the event came to be. It has grown well beyond our initial expectations thanks to the great partners and players that have joined in.”

The first Tennis Point Exhibition Series event begins this weekend with subsequent events taking place between 7 – 10 May and 14 – 17 May. Each event of the Series will be available via the Tennis Channel International app.