MELBOURNE, Australia — Tennis fans in the United States know the exercise.
For decades, when the cold and darkness of January set in, they had ESPNcoverage by Australian Open to help them through the post-vacation blues.
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The images of sun-drenched blue courts and fellow tennis fans waltzing through Melbourne Park in shorts and t-shirts, serve as a gentle, temporary antidote to the harshness of winter, alongside the world’s best players strutting their stuff 10,000 miles or more away.
This year, many American tennis fans were preparing to watch the 2026 tournament and hit a roadblock. The three show courts – Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena and John Cain Arena – were not accessible except to anyone who already owned or was willing to pay an extra $30 a month to see them.
For some fans, the upgrade caused apps to glitch or fail completely. The additional paywall, unprecedented, at least for fans who had not read the company’s media announcement before the tournament, which did not cite the $30 figure, caused widespread anger on social media.
ESPN declined to make an executive available to discuss the decision to place show court feeds behind a paywall. A spokesperson said the pre-tournament announcement explained that show courts were also available on flagship channels, but that a channel could only broadcast one match at a time. Television coverage often does not begin until several hours after the start of the day in Australia, which is 16 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone and 19 hours ahead of the Pacific Time Zone.
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In recent years, ESPN+ subscribers could access most courts, but especially the main competition courts, at any time. Not anymore.
ESPN’s coverage includes two one-hour flagship shows on the middle and final weekends, an app that allows viewers to watch four games simultaneously, as well as highlights and broadcasts via Disney+ for all subscribers to the Disney+, Hulu and ESPN packages.
It also reorganized its commentary roster for the Australian Open, with longtime analysts Pam Shriver, Brad Gilbert and Darren Cahill not associated with Australian Open coverage.
Placing stadium courts behind the paywall makes unlimited service more desirable. The network said it makes decisions about which events will be broadcast on ESPN Unlimited on a sport-by-sport and event-by-event basis. This could happen at Wimbledon and the US Open – or not. It remains to be seen how much the response from tennis fans will influence this decision.
This article was originally published in Athletics.
Sports Affairs, Tennis, Women’s Tennis
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