Seriously....what's with Tennis coverage in the United States?

Question

I cant believe there was no channel here covering semi finals live! Marat vs Fed

India covers it! Thailand covers it! China does! (I checked. My parents are in India now and my best friends are from Asia)

We dont get Marat vs Federer live! Seriously why is it so here?

I am seriously thinking of getting a tennis exclusive channel hoping that they dont have any deals with other channels and stop coverage.

I also want to write a complaint to some of the sports execs here.

Do we have just ESPN and NBC? Any other channel that covers Wimbledon?

Answer 1

First of all it has nothing to with the fact no Americans are in the Semi's it still would have been tape delayed. It wasn't that long ago the the ladies singles final at the French Open 2001 where not shown live Capriati vs Clijsters.

It's that NBC is not a big believer in showing events overseas live as they would rather give the event a more favorable time for the West Coast as well as the East.

True for the most part Tennis has fallen off the radar so showing the match live or tapped isn't a big enough issue that alot of people are going to go ape over.

Answer 2

The reason was because Marat Safin in his interview had a very negative demeanor towards the match and even stated he had " no chance ".

I'm guessing the broadcasters thought an early 8 a.m. match that was going to have Federer win handedly would draw lesser ratings than a Williams sisters semifinal in Doubles.

And maybe they were wrong, but maybe they made the smart move, who knows.

Answer 3

I was so very disappointed as well.  They will all be showing repeats later on both the Tennis Channel and ESPN.  It's amazing that a sport so popular wouldn't be given the time.  It's ashamed that in American if the games are not being played in the country they do not show it much especially if Americans are taking part.  true lovers of tennis love to see people play not just their own.  They enjoy a good game any time with anyone playing.

Answer 4

Tennis doesn't get any respect in the US. Relatively few people are interested compared to the "bigger market" sports such as football, baseball, and golf.

Yes, it comes down to money. The revenue doesn't come pouring in as much for tennis so it becomes more of an obligation to show some tennis when they'd much rather be showing higher revenue sports (like poker).

The NBC coverage has been horrible this year. The blocks of time have already been negotiated and bought so they can only show coverage during those time periods. They (NBC and ESPN) chose to buy the particular time slots.

Often times NBC shows some match with an "American" playing (on tape delay) when better matches are going on LIVE. It's all marketing and they think nobody will be interested unless the Williams sisters, or losers like Roddick and Blake are playing.

The Tennis Channel coverage is usually pretty good but in the big events, when ESPN and the networks take over, they are prevented from playing most LIVE matches. They'll be lucky if they get to show the mixed-doubles final LIVE.

Answer 5

complaints will not work- they're airing it at noon EST so that the West Coast folks will be woke and have eaten breakfast. I don't give a d**n about them I want to see a live match, which I why I pay for Wimbledon Live. It's so worth it- I wish all the tournament websites offered this because I am able to watch so many matches while at work

Answer 6

Hey, I answered a tennis question the other day and someone (who i can only presume was from the USA) replied that Americans don't like tennis? Maybe that is why you are not getting good coverage (personally I thought the answer was a load of tripe, but there you go!!)

Answer 7

NBC has first choice with all match coverage.They wanted the match that would be more competitive.

The network coverage time is not flexible.Wimbledon put the Federer-Safin match on first.They will only come on to air the tennis when they scheduled to do so.

They will never come on a few hours earlier for a live match.

They will choose to cover the higher profile match.NBC is very bad at manipulating the timing of sports coverage.They are notorious for it.The blame may rest with d**k Ebersol who is the head of NBC sports.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Eberso...

Another issue is in the US all the major networks are run through affiliates.The local station runs the network programming.The local station gets their money from local ad revenue.They really don't want to run alot of sports events in the first place.The network can't just change the air times at a moments notice.

The only way to see all the matches live is the Wimbledon video service.

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/index.htm...

It's clear the coverage is awkward at best.I do think more people are going to choose to watch sporting events online if some of these issues aren't addressed.

Answer 8

BEWARE...

IF ANY AMERICAN PLAYER LIKE ANDY RODDICK OR JAMES BLAKE PLAY IN THE SEMI OR FINAL, I THINK THE TV NETWORK WILL DO ANYTHING TO BROADCAST IT LIVE.

ITS VERY SIMPLE

Answer 9

Is tennis that game that's kinda like ping pong?  But the people actually stand on a huge table.

Answer 10

watch it online..

here at http://www.viewlivecricket.com/?p=11

enjoy