Serving Sports Fans In A Major Way: Dive Deep Into ESPN+’s Australian Open Coverage
On the heels of a huge 2023 for ESPN+, Emily Horowitz, VP, ESPN+ Business & Platform Strategy, explains why only ESPN+ can provide 1,300 hours of live coverage of the Australian Open, part of a January cornucopia on the No. 1 sports streaming platform
Following a stellar 2023 with more than 32,000 live events, 3,000 hours of original content, 1,500 premium articles on ESPN.com, and so much more, 2024 on ESPN+ promises to be even bigger and better.
This month’s Australian Open is the first big event of the new year for ESPN+, with all 224 qualifying and more than 650 main draw matches streaming live on the platform. It adds up to more than 1,300 live hours of tennis from all 15 Melbourne Park courts, and every event match, including replays and on-demand content, will be available on ESPN+.
Besides the sheer volume of tennis, the first Grand Slam of the year will have plenty of engaging storylines, including Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka defending their Australian Open titles, the return of new mom Naomi Osaka, and more.
Front Row caught up with Emily Horowitz, Vice President, ESPN+ Business & Platform Strategy, to ask her about why ESPN+ is the perfect fit for an event like the Australian Open and to get her take on everything else ESPN+ subscribers can look forward to in 2024.
The Australian Open is a great way to start 2024, but what else is on tap for ESPN+ this year?
There is so much to be excited about on ESPN+ to kick off the year. From the NFL, ESPN+ just delivered the Week 18 doubleheader and the NFL Wildcard game coming up. Later this month we’ve got our first pay-per-view event of the new year with UFC 297 in which Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis will fight for the UFC middleweight title.
We jump into the heart of conference play for men’s and women’s college basketball with an unparalleled depth of teams and conferences. I’m really looking forward to our college sports coverage with extensive college basketball, college hockey, and lacrosse, softball and baseball as we move into the spring. PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ just started a new season in Hawaii, and of course, ESPN+ continues to deliver an incredible slate of NHL games and LALIGA matches.
We also have a slate of original content coming up, including the debut of “Sue’s Places” with college basketball and WNBA legend Sue Bird, the latest expansion of the Places Universe.
Later this year, ESPN+ will have the opportunity to deliver UFC 300 on pay-per-view, which we expect to be really special for fans and more tennis with Wimbledon and the US Open. We can’t forget that ESPN+ will be available later this year to select Charter subscribers, which is another exciting chapter for how fans can access ESPN+ and our industry-leading content offering.
Jon McLeod produced the video
