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Podcast: WTA CEO Steve Simon on New TV Rights Deal, Year-End Championships and More
On the Beyond the Baseline Podcast, Sports Illustrated executive editor, Tennis Channel commentator and host Jon Wertheim takes fans between the lines with tennis commentary and exclusive interviews with the top players and newsmakers on the ATP and WTA tours.
On the latest edition of the Beyond the Baseline Podcast, host Jon Wertheim talks with WTA CEO Steve Simon.
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Following the WTA's decision to cut the U.S. part of its worldwide rights deal with beIN sports, the Tour's head Steve Simon discusses the move to Tennis Channel, which includes a five-year deal for television and digital streaming broadcast rights, and what it means for American fans, how it can help build excitement and growth around the sport and more. Wertheim and Simon also talk about the future of the WTA in Asia, what Serena Williams means to women's tennis and what will happen when she decides to move on from the sport, the tour schedule and impact of injuries, and much more.
Listen below and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or on Stitcher.
Check back next week for another episode of Beyond the Baseline.
Jon Wertheim is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and has been part of the full-time SI writing staff since 1997, largely focusing on the tennis beat , sports business and social issues, and enterprise journalism. In addition to his work at SI, he is a correspondent for "60 Minutes" and a commentator for The Tennis Channel. He has authored 11 books and has been honored with two Emmys, numerous writing and investigative journalism awards, and the Eugene Scott Award from the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Wertheim is a longtime member of the New York Bar Association (retired), the International Tennis Writers Association and the Writers Guild of America. He has a bachelor's in history from Yale University and received a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He resides in New York City with his wife, who is a divorce mediator and adjunct law professor. They have two children.