BALTIMORE—Sinclair and Tennis Channel have launched “Sinclair Cares: California Wildfires Relief, a fundraising initiative in partnership with the Salvation Army” to provide disaster relief support across wildfire-stricken greater Los Angeles.

Donations made via Sinclair Cares: California Wildfires Relief will help provide critical aid, shelter, food, fresh water and support for wildfire survivors and first responders in Los Angeles. All funds raised will directly support the Salvation Army’s wildfire disaster-relief efforts, Sinclair reported.

Tennis Channel is owned by Sinclair.

“Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by these devastating wildfires,“ Sinclair Chief Operating Officer and President of Local Media Rob Weisbord said. “Sinclair is committed to supporting the communities we serve, especially in times of need. By partnering with the Salvation Army, we aim to bring hope and critical resources to those affected in Southern California.”

LOS ANGELES—Sinclair’s Tennis Channel is planning to launch a new direct-to-consumer (DTC) streaming service that merges its 24-hour network with extensive live and on-demand multicourt coverage.

The service, which launches Nov. 12, will cost consumers $109.99 a year or $9.99 a month when the service launches.

The streamlined platform integrates the live channel with all content previously available through its existing subscription-streaming service, Tennis Channel+, providing more than 10,000 hours of live and on-demand tennis. This includes replays, highlights and interviews, along with press conferences and a library of series, podcasts and documentaries. Current subscribers will receive the flagship channel at no extra charge.

Cable and satellite video customers who receive Tennis Channel as part of their linear pay TV bundle will also have authenticated access through the network app and website to the enhanced content previously only available through Tennis Channel+ at no further cost.

The addition of the Tennis Channel linear network further enhances the app experience, Sinclair said, offering exclusive commentary, in-depth analysis, player interviews and studio show “Tennis Channel Live.”

“Tennis Channel is transforming the way fans connect with the sport,” Tennis Channel Senior Vice President, Direct-to-Consumer Matt Graham said. “By merging our flagship network with extensive live and on-demand offerings, we’re making it easier for fans to enjoy the game they love. Subscribers have total control of their viewing experience, with the ability to follow their favorite players in real time, switch between multiple live matches or sit back and enjoy our 24/7 network.”

The new, all-in-one service provides live tennis coverage of more than 100 tournaments and thousands of matches from both the men’s and women’s tours. This includes full access to the men’s ATP and women’s WTA seasons, featuring every 1000, 500 and 250 event, as well as their year-end championships. International team competitions Davis Cup (men’s national teams), Billie Jean King Cup (women’s national teams), United Cup (mixed men’s and women’s international teams) and Laver Cup (men’s Europe vs. World teams) are also available on the platform. It also carries exhibition events that showcase the sport’s biggest stars.

The Tennis Channel app is accessible on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Amazon Firestick and Roku, with plans for expansion to additional platforms.

HUNT VALLEY, Md.—In a notable sign of the spread of AI technologies into TV operations, Sinclair has announced the company has taken its first steps into usage of generative artificial intelligence (generative AI) as a way to expand the reach of its original content. 

Sinclair reported that it will begin using AI for language translation beginning with “Petko Unfiltered,” a Tennis Channel series with network analyst Andrea Petkovic, a former WTA world #9 player. “Petko Unfiltered” provides an in-depth and unfiltered first-person perspective on trending tennis topics.

The episodes, which are recorded and presented by Tennis Channel in English in several European countries and on its second network T2 in the United States, will be translated into Spanish to air on Tennis Channel in Spain beginning later this month.

For this initiative, Sinclair said it collaborated with HeyGen, a leading generative AI video company, specializing in voice translation and lip-sync services, transforming the way businesses use video to enable global storytelling.

As part of the push into AI, Sinclair stressed that it is committed to creating trusted content. For full transparency, the episodes will include a disclosure slate explaining the AI usage and a QR code linking to https://www.tennis.com/ai which will provide a comparison of episode language versions.

“Generative AI is set to transform the world we live in; and Sinclair is enthusiastic about leveraging the technology to make our original content accessible to a bigger audience through language translation,” explained Chris Ripley, president and CEO of Sinclair, Inc. “At the same time, we believe that upholding ethical standards in media through AI implementation is paramount. We recognize our duty to employ AI with integrity and transparency, to safeguard not only our industry’s reputation but also the trust of our audiences. At Sinclair, we take this responsibility seriously, which is why we have chosen to voluntarily and proactively join the leading organizations dedicated to promoting responsible practices.”

Sinclair also stressed that it belongs to organizations working to protect content provenance and address misinformation including Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI), the leader in the global effort to address digital misinformation and content authenticity, focused on promoting and providing an open, cross-industry approach to media transparency, and the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), a formal coalition dedicated exclusively to drafting technical standards and specifications as a foundation for universal content provenance.

In addition, Sinclair has created SAIF – Sinclair AI Forum, an internal, interdepartmental AI workgroup to facilitate knowledge sharing, governance, compliance, and strategic guidance across the company.

HUNT VALLEY, Md.—Sinclair Broadcast Group has announced that it will carry Tennis Channel’s T2 as a free, streaming, virtual channel in all of its markets nationwide that have deployed the new NextGen Broadcast standard, aka ATSC 3.0. Currently, Sinclair is using the NextGen Broadcast standard in 43 markets.

Carriage of T2 as a broadcast-enabled virtual channel coincides with Sinclair’s recent offer to carry public broadcast stations as virtual channels in its markets where the public station is not part of the initial over-the-air NextGen Broadcast deployment. This effort is geared to ‘prime the pump’ for later broadcast carriage to all viewers, Sinclair reported. 

T2 is Tennis Channel’s second television network and includes matches from the men’s and women’s professional tours and team-cup competitions, as well as the French Open (Roland Garros), one of the sport’s four majors. Other programming includes original series, short-form features and documentaries exclusive to T2. The T2 virtual channel will be available via Sinclair NextGen Broadcast stations. 

Carriage of a broadcast-enabled virtual channel involves transmitting programming data within the NextGen Broadcast service allowing over-the-air viewers with a connected NextGen TV to see and select the channel in their programming guide while the channel is delivered over the Internet. 

The NextGen TV capabilities also mean that the T2 programming will use Advanced HDR by Technicolor. HDR presents the viewer with better contrast, higher brightness, and a wider range of colors, creating a more realistic and immersive visual experience.

“With this new NextGen Broadcast platform that Sinclair is leading the way in introducing, people all over the country will have more ways to watch live, top-tier professional sports around the clock, with the best players in the world, all year long,” explained Tennis Channel president, Ken Solomon. “This means hours and hours of daily, continuous play and original programming that only exists on T2.” Mike Kralec, Sinclair’s Chief Technology Officer, added, “We are excited to expand the reach of T2, improve the viewer experience with HDR, and extend our flexible cloud distribution strategies. Delivering high quality programming via connected smart TV provides an initial path for distribution that can precede that same programming eventually being received over-the-air.”

 HUNT VALLEY, Md. & OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—Sinclair, Inc. has renewed its distribution agreement with the National Content & Technology Cooperative (“NCTC”), a not-for-profit corporation whose members serve one-third of all broadband and video connected households in the U.S. and its territories

NCTC represents almost 700 cable and broadband operators in all 50 states, and negotiating carriage agreements with content providers is among the many services it provides.

As usual, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

The agreement allows NCTC's member companies to opt into a multi-year retransmission consent agreement for Sinclair's owned/operated local stations. The renewal also includes an agreement for Sinclair-owned Tennis Channel. 

“We are pleased to renew our agreement with NCTC, keeping our local broadcast stations and Tennis Channel available to the many independent cable system operators across the country, who provide a vital function, often serving the rural and underserved communities across the US,” said Will Bell, Sinclair’s senior vice president and head of distribution and network relations.

LOS ANGELES & DALLAS—Tennis Channel and the Carvana Professional Pickleball Association (PPA Tour) have formed a commercial joint venture that will work to further build pickleball – America’s fastest growing sport.

Effective immediately, the partnership will see the vast majority of PPA Tour matches appear live on Tennis Channel platforms, integrated advertising-sales efforts for media and tournaments, and the launch of a 24-hour pickleball channel, the companies said. 

Tennis Channel will produce all events for the PPA Tour, the sport’s professional pinnacle and home to the top male and female pickleball players around the world, the partners explained. 

The network will also work with the PPA Tour to create Pickleballtv, a standalone pickleball channel – initially a FAST channel but eventually also a streaming live/video-on-demand service – and separate websites and apps solely dedicated to the tour. 

In addition, a minimum of 100 live hours of PPA Tour play will appear annually on Tennis Channel and its free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel, T2. Viewers will have further access to PPA Tour coverage on the network’s subscription streaming service, Tennis Channel Plus, its website and its app. 

As the producer of all PPA Tour content, Tennis Channel will have the right to show every match on the tour, including same-day delay and on-demand access to competition that does not appear live on the network. Pickleball enthusiasts who currently watch matches online for free on other platforms will continue to do so on Tennis Channel’s website.

With the agreement, Tennis Channel parent-company Sinclair Ventures has the option to invest in the parent company of the PPA tour.

According to February’s annual Sports & Fitness Industry Association Topline Participation Report, pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport in the United States for three consecutive years, increasing 159% in that time.

“This is an exciting moment in the ongoing evolution of the Carvana PPA Tour,” said Tom Dundon, owner of Pickleball.com and the Professional Pickleball Association. “There’s no company in the world that’s as well positioned as Tennis Channel to immediately capitalize and expand upon the current pickleball explosion and the early success of the PPA Tour. Their model is unique in sportscasting, and we couldn’t be happier to work with them to develop a consistent, reliable home for current pickleball fans and others to come.”

As part of the arrangement, both will also work together to tap into the increasing sponsorship demand of organizations that are interested in the popular sport. Tennis Channel and PPA Tour sales teams will offer combined packages across the tour, events and media platforms.

“Tom and (PPA Tour CEO Connor Pardoe) and their teams have created the gold standard in pickleball,” said Ken Solomon, president, Tennis Channel. “The future of any sport is driven by its media approach. Tennis Channel has spent two decades streamlining the sheer volume of tennis, its tours and its schedules in an easy-to-follow system across popular platforms. Now we’re going to apply that same hub-and-spoke model to show people how compelling pickleball and its stars are at the professional level.”

Pickleball has been part of Tennis Channel’s long-term strategy since the sport’s burst in popularity in recent years, the Sinclair-owned network said. The network first aired a PPA Tour event in September 2021 before greatly expanding its coverage in 2022, with events on its platforms throughout the year. There are 25 PPA Tour events on the 2023 calendar.

The network will not air pickleball in time periods where it has the rights to live tennis.

BALTIMORE, Md.—Sinclair, Inc. has announced a new distribution agreement with Hulu that will add carriage of Tennis Channel, T2, Comet and Charge! to Hulu + Live TV, beginning January 2024.

The deal will give Hulu + Live TV subs access in early 2024 to Tennis Channel, which provides both coverage of the professional sports and tennis lifestyle content, T2, Tennis Channel’s first free ad-supported TV (FAST) channel, Sinclair’s Comet, which features sci-fi and fantasy entertainment programming, and Charge!, which offers a lineup of police procedural dramas.

SALT LAKE CITY—Vidgo has announced a new carriage agreement with Tennis Channel, which will provide subscribers of the vMVPD service with exclusive, live coverage of more than 93% of the events in professional tennis each year. 

This includes the upcoming, highly anticipated BNP Paribas Open (March 8-19) and Miami Open (March 21-April 2) tournaments.

“Vidgo’s streaming platform is a favorite for dyed-in-the-wool live sports fans,” said Derek Mattsson, CEO of Vidgo. “Tennis Channel is one of our most important additions to expand our lineup of live sports because it features some of the world’s best athletes, entertaining and thrilling fans for hours in what I believe it one of the most exciting spectator sports around. Tennis Channel is the perfect complement extensive sports lineup, and I can proudly say we are now the best sports streaming service with the best value overall.”

“We’re pleased to work with Vidgo to make Tennis Channel available to their growing subscriber base,” said Lee Schlazer, senior vice president, distribution, Sinclair Broadcast Group. “As streaming options continue to rise in popularity, our goal remains the same – to bring Tennis Channel’s unrivaled coverage to people wherever they want to experience it. With two of the biggest tournaments in professional tennis taking place here in the United States in March, this couldn’t have happened at a better time for Vidgo customers.”

Vidgo’s partnership with Tennis Channel comes on the eve of one of the busiest, most prestigious months on the annual tennis calendar. The network will show more than 550 live and encore hours from March 8-April 2, essentially becoming a 24-hour channel devoted to each event as it takes place. 

NEW YORK—Amagi has announced that its solutions enabled the launch of T2, a new channel from Tennis Channel, exclusively available on Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (FAST) platforms.  

Tennis Channel launched T2 on Samsung TV Plus as a FAST channel in the U.S. in March.

Tennis Channel is using Amagi CLOUDPORT, an cloud-based channel playout platform that offers broadcast-grade quality with true cloud deployment. 

In addition, they are leveraging Amagi’s content scheduling services, Master Control Room (MCR) services, and Amagi LIVE, a UHD-ready, cloud-based live orchestration platform for orchestrating broadcast-grade live content on the go.

“The experience of launching our first FAST channel for tennis in the United States with Amagi has been enriching,” said Andy Reif, senior vice president, Tennis Channel International. “The Live-to-VOD functionality from Amagi is extremely valuable to us as it allows effortless switching between live and recorded content. Further, Amagi LIVE supports industry-standard advanced graphics templates, native graphics, HTML, and singular.live. The user experience this delivers is wonderful for tennis fans and we’re excited to bring the sport to a whole new audience.”

“Having been closely associated with Tennis Channel for over two years now and having worked with them to launch channels in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and India, we are very happy to partner in the launch of Tennis Channel’s 24-hour FAST channel in the United States,” said Srinivasan KA, co-founder, Amagi. “Running a live channel can be challenging, especially for a sport such as Tennis where the overall length of the game is often unpredictable. The Amagi LIVE platform is ideal since it offers the flexibility to extend live playout, switch between input sources, and more.”

Amagi’s clients include ABS-CBN, A+E Networks UK, beIN Sports, CuriosityStream, Discovery Networks, Fox Networks, Fremantle, Gusto TV, NBCUniversal, Tastemade, Tegna, USA Today, Vice Media and Warner Media, among others.

For more information about Amagi and its streaming TV solutions, visit www.amagi.com.

LOS ANGELES—Tennis Channel and Samsung’s free streaming service, Samsung TV Plus have teamed up to launch T2, Tennis Channel’s first free ad-supported TV (FAST) offering in the United States and Samsung TV Plus’s first channel to offer year-round live sports competition. T2, which features matches and original programming not featured on Tennis Channel, T2 is now available to all Samsung TV Plus users with 2017-or-newer Samsung smart TVs and Galaxy mobile devices.

Tennis Channel, which is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, says it new, youth-oriented channel is distinct from its linear television network, online platforms and print magazine in its content, tone, look and feel. T2 will include matches from the men’s and women’s professional tennis tours—the Association of Tennis Professionals and Women’s Tennis Association—as well as select matches from the French Open and International Tennis Federation events. In addition to on-court competition, other programming includes original short-form features and documentaries exclusive to T2.

The launch is just the latest in a trend of bringing traditional, linear type TV programming to a generation raised on on-demand streaming. The market for FAST channels is expected to grow from $2.1 billion in 2021 to $4.1 billion in 2023, according to a recent study by Verizon Media, which also found that monthly active users will hit 216 million in 2023.

“The demand for top-level sports programming has grown even stronger as media platforms continue to evolve, and we couldn’t be happier to usher in T2, our new FAST standard, with Samsung TV Plus,” said Ken Solomon, president, Tennis Channel. “Thanks to the voluminous live-match content unique to tennis—daily, global events around the clock with often overlapping multi-court coverage—T2 lets millions of Americans watch live tennis from many of the world’s top events, all year long. There are more great matches than we can fit on Tennis Channel, making T2 and Samsung TV Plus’ innovative platform the perfect complement. It allows us to attract even more viewers to the game in an exciting new way, rising the tide for tennis fans, our existing distribution partners and the game’s stakeholders everywhere.”

Tennis Channel FAST channels are currently available on Samsung TV Plus in Austria, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom—though they are programmed and designed separately from the new American channel. T2 expands that reach to the large U.S. marketplace and comes during one of the most important months on the annual tennis calendar.

“We are excited to partner with Sinclair and welcome T2, the destination to watch live marquee tennis matches from around the world, exclusively on Samsung TV Plus,” said Takashi Nakano, senior director of content acquisitions and business development for Samsung TV Plus. “Adding live sports to our lineup gives our viewers even more choice and that’s what Samsung TV Plus is all about.”

Tennis Channel’s domestic FAST channel on Samsung TV Plus is the latest platform in the network’s continuing media expansion. In recent years, this has included a podcast network, print magazine, youth-oriented digital newsletter and streaming-subscription service in marketplaces outside the country. At the same time, the channel has become the exclusive television and digital home of both the men’s and women’s professional tours in the United States.

BALTIMORE, M.D.—Sinclair has announced that it has launched its Tennis Channel International streaming service in the U.K. 

The move follows the 2020 launch of the service in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and the debut this year in Greece.

Tennis Channel International features a 24-hour streamed programming channel and will be the first British TV platform devoted exclusively to tennis, Sinclair said. 

The service will be available in the UK at www.tennischannel.com and via the Tennis Channel International app on iOs and Android mobile devices and tablets as well as on Roku, FireTV and select smart TVs for £2.49 per month.

“Ever since we launched the Tennis Channel in the U.S. 18 years ago, people across the globe have been asking when we’re going to bring it to their country, and now it’s happening,” said Ken Solomon, president, Tennis Channel. “With simultaneous daily tournaments worldwide, at all hours, the sheer volume of coverage and broad-based demand for tennis requires 24-hour, territory-specific, TV-and-digital platforms devoted exclusively to the sport. We’ve proven that it works in the U.S., creating enormous value increases for all stakeholders and media partners, and our initial international launches in Germany, Austria and Switzerland have well exceeded expectations. Now we’re excited to share our unique brand, tournament coverage, Hall of Fame talent and original content with new and existing fans in the U.K. – the birthplace of the sport as we know it today.”

LOS ANGELES—Live tennis is coming back to people’s TV screens, as the Tennis Channel has announced that it will broadcast the Tennis Point Exhibition Series from May 1-4.

The Tennis Point Exhibition Series is an eight-man tournament that will feature 32 matches in a round robin format. It will take place in Germany, which recently relaxed its coronavirus-prevention restrictions. Even so, the tournament will take place behind closed doors and without any fans in attendance.

This is the first professional event since the men’s and women’s tours went on hiatus in March.

“We’re as excited as tennis fans everywhere to see the game return, and thrilled to be able to present this live competition with ranked players on Tennis Channel, as the first competitive tournament since the professional tours shut down in March,” said John MacDonald, senior vice president, content programming at Tennis Channel. “We fully embrace safe-play guidelines and continue to work with players, event organizers and sponsors to present this breakthrough event—and hopefully additional ones in the weeks to come—for fans across the country.”

Tennis Channel will provide coverage of the tournament live on TV, as well as on-demand through the Tennis Channel app and www.tennis.com starting on May 1 at 3 a.m. ET.

In addition, Tennis Channel will air programming from its studio show “Tennis Channel Live” throughout May.

Tennis Channel is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

NEW YORK —Nielsen and Tennis Channel have expanded their deal to include not just local but national ratings as well. 

This multi-year agreement provides Tennis Channel with national ratings insights, giving them full flexibility in analyzing minute-by-minute viewership information and daily measurement of commercial and program performance. The use of Nielsen’s rich and deep-level data will enable Tennis Channel to offer agencies and advertisers the information they need to make smarter and more strategic media buying decisions.

“With today’s ever changing media landscape, it’s important for us to get insights into our viewers in order to assess our performance,” said Steve Badeau, senior vice president of Research for the Tennis Channel. “By expanding our relationship with Nielsen, to include National TV Ratings, we’ll now have a complete view of our audience across local and national TV. Nielsen continues to evolve and provide offerings that allow us to showcase the growing fan base of tennis to our valuable and potential advertisers.”

In addition, the agreement gives Tennis Channel access to other Nielsen products and services, including data on time-shifted viewing, custom demographics and TV consumption habits. Nielsen will also provide Tennis Channel with comprehensive and actionable advertising intelligence that alerts them of changes in ad spend across multiple categories, markets and media.

BALTIMORE—Sinclair Broadcast Group executives said they looked at other cable networks, but that Tennis Channel had the most potential for growth.

“We looked at a number of other channels, but Tennis stood out. We wanted something that was underdistributed,” said Sinclair executive vice president Barry Faber.

Tennis Channel currently reaches 30 million subscribers. “We considered it closer to Golf Channel,” which has 80 million, Faber said. The Sinclair deal will put Tennis Channel in 20 million more homes, the broadcaster said.

“When you couple it with our relationship with the cable operators, they were more willing to add Tennis in negotiations,” Faber said.

The next big pay TV negotiation will be with the nation’s No. 1 carrier, Comcast. Faber said between that and a few gaps, Tennis should catch up with Golf “in the next three years or so.”

He also mentioned getting Tennis into digital basic channel territory on pay systems rather than the add-on sports tiers where it now commonly resides. Tennis has had a long-standing dispute with Comcast over being carried on a tier that costs extra while Comcast-owned Golf Channel is part of the basic digital package. The dispute, having made its way through the Federal Communications Commission and a federal court, remains ongoing.

Wells Fargo’s Marci Ryvicker said Tennis “incremental benefit should come from a different channel placement.”

She said that assuming a March 1 close on the deal, incremental revenue for this year should be between $95 million and $100 million, with EBITDA at $20 million and an uptick expected from additional carriage in the second half of this year and the first half of 2017.

Sinclair’s investors liked Tennis Channel and agreed that it was underdistributed, due in part to old contracts from when it was trying to get off the ground. First-time carriage deals can go for 15 to 20 years, Faber said. Tennis Channel launched in 2003. Carriage of the network now will be rolled into Sinclair’s retransmission consent negotiations, which are on a three-year lifecycle, Faber said.

Tennis controls U.S. TV coverage of the the sport with around 90 percent of the TV rights in the United States. The executives said Tennis Channel is complementary to ESPN’s coverage versus competitive. Ryvicker agreed.

“The Tennis Channel works in conjunction with the big sports networks to divvy up rights; it also sublicenses some of the big matches from ESPN such as the Australian and US Opens. This is a cost-effective way to compete in the space from a rights-fee perspective,” she wrote in an analyst’s note.

Tennis Channel Chairman and CEO Ken Solomon said “the bulk” of the network’s programming rights agreements were renewed “a few months ago.” These typically last from three to five years. Tennis renewed its 15-year relationship with the ATP World Tour last November. Throughout 2015, the ATP accounted for more than 600 live matches and more than 1,000 hours of coverage for Tennis. The renewed deal adds digital rights for all but four of the Masters 1000- and 500-level events.

Tennis also renewed with Tennis Australia earlier this month. The deal includes the Australian Open, which concludes Sunday, Jan. 31. Tennis Channel nailed down Apple TV as a streaming partner in time for the tournament,according to Multichannel News. Apple picked up Tennis Channel Plus, the network’s subscription-based over-the-top streaming package priced at $89.99 a year, also available on Amazon and Roku, and on iOS and Android devices.

Tennis Channel marks Sinclair’s second major foray into the world of sports programming. The TV station group launched the American Sports Network in mid-2014 with a lineup of NCAA conferences.

Asked if Sinclair was still on the hunt, Faber said, “We looked extensively through the cable network universe to find this acquisition. We’ve been looking at this cable strategy for quite some time. We’re not actively seeking new cable opportunities, but we look at everything [that comes along].”

See…
January 27, 2016
“Sinclair To Acquire Tennis Channel for $350 Million”
The company has already negotiated agreements with a number of multichannel video programming distributors, which, following Sinclair’s acquisition, will increase carriage of Tennis from approximately 30 million homes to approximately 50 million homes.

July 17, 2014
“Sinclair Launches Sports Network”
Sinclair… has entered into comprehensive sports rights agreements with a number of NCAA Division I conferences including Conference USA, the Colonial Athletic Association, Big South Conference, Southern Conference and Patriot League. 

(See update at “Sinclair on Tennis: Shooting for 80 Million Subs,”)

BALTIMORE— Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the stock of Tennis Channel for $350 million.

The company said it would benefit from over $200 million of Tennis net operating losses, which Sinclair will be able to carry forward to reduce future tax payments, the present value which Sinclair estimates to be worth approximately $65 million.

Tennis Channel is the only 24-hour, television-based multimedia destination dedicated to both the professional sport and tennis lifestyle. Tennis, which includes established over-the-top subscription services, TC Plus and TV Everywhere, has rights to 90 percent of all the televised tennis in the U.S. and features comprehensive coverage including the top 100 tournaments in the sport and more.

The company has already negotiated agreements with a number of multichannel video programming distributors, which, following Sinclair’s acquisition, will increase carriage of Tennis from approximately 30 million homes to approximately 50 million homes. The transaction, which is subject to antitrust regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, is expected to close during the first quarter of 2016 and will be funded through cash on hand and a draw on the company’s revolving line of credit.

“The company expects 2015 pro forma operating cash flow for the contracted subscriber increases (including the additional license fees and advertising revenues resulting from such increased carriage), to be approximately $60 million, the synergies of which will be phased in over 18 months, and resulting in a 2015 pro forma purchase multiple, including the present value of the NOLs, of 4.8x and approximately $0.40 of incremental cash flow per share,” commented Chris Ripley, chief financial officer of Sinclair.

“We greatly appreciate the commitment from many of our distribution partners to substantially increase their carriage of Tennis Channel, and we expect that a number of upcoming MVPD negotiations to result in further carriage and Tennis subscriber penetration,” stated Barry Faber, Sinclair’s executive vice president and general counsel. “Nothing is more valuable to video distributors than high quality, live sports, and we expect the increased carriage of Tennis will be well-received by their subscribers. We also expect to leverage our broadcast platform to promote Tennis Channel, which we anticipate will result in increased viewership, further adding to the channel’s value in attracting and retaining subscribers.”

“In Sinclair we have found the perfect owner-partner to accelerate scaling the Tennis Channel brand and our sport’s expanding fan-base to the next level. Sinclair’s unique size and position in the media ecosystem will facilitate significant distribution growth towards parity with our competitive set and expand our brand’s assets and unique value as the go-to destination for all things tennis in the U.S. and beyond,” said Ken Solomon, chairman and CEO of the Tennis Channel.

“The larger platform will immediately help develop incremental advertising and sponsorship business and puts us in a great position to enhance our already comprehensive rights portfolio domestically as well as develop the brand internationally. We also intend to utilize Sinclair’s advanced branding capabilities, digital expertise and significant broadcast asset platform to drive increased awareness for both Tennis Channel and our successful subscription-based OTT platform, ‘Tennis Channel Plus.’ Our management team is more excited than ever about the future for Tennis Channel under Sinclair’s ownership and anxious to grow as part of such a visionary and transformative company. This is a great day for both the professional sport and the amateur tennis community and most importantly for the viewers we serve,” he said.

LionTree Advisors acted as financial advisor to Tennis Channel in connection with the transaction. Evolution Media Capital also acted as an advisor to Tennis Channel.