Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!: ESPN, Tennis Channel, Marketers Serve U.S. Open Slam

By Barry Janoff

UPDATED August 22, 2025: 

U.S. Open Women’s Singles Draw

U.S. Open Men’s Singles Draw

August 18, 2025: As The Ramones from Forest Hills, Queens sang in Blitzkrieg Bop, “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!” to nearby Flushing Meadows for the 2025 U.S. Open in the U.S. Tennis Assn. Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

ESPN, whose platforms have aired the U.S. Open Grand Slam since 2009 and exclusively since 2014, will again have wall-to-wall coverage, beginning with all four days of the Qualifying tournament, to stream live on ESPN+ and air on ESPNews and ESPN2, Aug. 18-21.

The qualifying competition features 128 men and 128 women competing for the final 16 slots in each of the 2025 U.S. Open singles draws.

ESPN will also have coverage of the re-imagined Mixed Doubles presented by Vital Proteins event, with teams featuring eight men and six women ranked inside the Top Ten in singles — including nine Grand Slam champions — vying for $1 million in championship prize money. (See full story here.)

Rounds One and Two air Aug.19, ESPN2 and ESPN+. The Mixed Doubles Semifinals and Final air Aug. 20 on ESPN2.

Tennis Channel will return to the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center this U.S. Open, calling it “its most expansive on-site presence in five years.”

ESPN is supporting with a multi-media campaign. “U.S. Open On ESPN: New York Groove.”

Earlier this summer, the U.S. Open unveiled a “New York Groove” remix by Grammy-winning producer Mustard and covered by multi-platinum artist K.Flay.

With New York landmarks as a backdrop, the anchor spot features such stars as Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, Ben Shelton, Jannik Sinner, Iga Swatek, Tayor Fritz, Francis Tiafoe and Novak Djokovic “looking to find their groove alongside the city and fans eager to help them.” Text offers: “Let’s see who’s got it.”

The cover will also be featured in the U.S. Open Manifesto, institutional videos and in broadcast on ESPN throughout the tournament.

The U.S. Open has launched its own multi-media effort, "The Greatest Stage," which also shows top players in action, New York landmarks and offers, "The storylines are set. The stars have arrived. The world is watching. And in New York, spectacular awaits." 

“Stars of the Open,” a fan-focused exhibition match scheduled to include Coco Gauff, Andre Agassi, Venus Williams, João Fonseca, Andy Roddick, John McEnroe, Juan Martín del Potro, Dana Mathewson and Casey Ratzlaff, will air on ESPN2 Aug. 21.

Then the full show begins.

For the first time, coverage begins Sunday, Aug. 24 (ABC Noon ET), one day earlier than its traditional Monday start, extending the tournament to a 15-day event.

The women’s singles championship is Sept. 6, (ESPN and ESPN Deportes) the men’s singles championship is Sept. 7 (ABC, ESPN Deportes).

Defending champions are Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka.

The 2025 U.S. Open men’s women’s singles draws will be revealed on Aug. 21.

WOMEN's ENTRY LIST

MEN's ENTRY LIST

Among the highlights, Venus Williams is scheduled to make her return to Grand Slam tennis at the U.S. Open after a two-year absence, receiving at age 45 wild-card invitations to compete in the mixed doubles and singles events.

And 38-year-old Novak Djokovic, who has reached the semifinals at the season’s first three Grand Slam events, will seek is record 25th singles major trophy. 

Tennis Channel will again have multi-platform coverage of the U.S. Open, including on-site presence, replays, interviews, news, schedules, stats and features.

Tennis Channel Live at the U.S. Open, the network’s daily lead-in show, will have two hours per day of news, analysis, highlights and special reports most mornings of the two-week competition.

From a new broadcast desk located directly outside Arthur Ashe Stadium, Tennis Channel Live at the US Open will air each morning (9-11 AM ET) from opening day on Aug. 24 through the men’s and women’s quarterfinals on Sept  3.

Special evening editions of Tennis Channel Live at the US Open (7–8 PM. ET) will air on Sept. 6-7, recapping the women’s and men’s finals held earlier those days.

Tennis Channel Live at the US Open will be hosted by Hall of Famers Lindsay Davenport and Jim Courier.

Tennis Channel’s team also includes Steve Weissman, Prakash Amritraj, Paul Annacone, Chanda Rubin, Brett Haber, and Jon Wertheim.

The Tennis Channel App and TennisChannel.com will offer subscribers access to the live linear network, plus more than 10,000 hours of matches and original programming on-demand.

“The U.S .Open is the sport’s biggest stage in America, and our coverage reflects the depth of Tennis Channel’s year-round expertise, perspective and access across TV, streaming and digital platforms,” Jeff Blackburn, Tennis Channel chairman and CEO, said via the media company.

“From our on-site desk and morning show to original storytelling and features, we’re offering a view of the U.S. Open through the unique lens our fans have come to expect from the network.”

The U.S. Open Grand Slam will be the first tennis event to reach $90 million in total player compensation, with the U.S. Tennis Assn. saying it would “once again offer the largest purse in tennis history.”

The $90 million tops the total $75 million in 2024, the previous highest purse in tennis history, with an increase of 20%.

The men's and women's singles champions at the 2025 U.S. Open will each take home $5 million, up 39% from the $3.6 million awarded in 2024, making it the largest winning payout in the sport.

Total 2025 U.S. Open player compensation of $90 million includes hotel, per diem and U.S. Open Wheelchair Championships prize money, according to the USTA.

U.S. Open partners include American Express, Aperol 1919, Argenx, Cadillac, Chase, Chubb, Clos du Bois, Deloitte, Dobel Tequila, Dove, Emirates, Evian, Fage, Grey Goose, Heineken, IBM, IHG, JPMorgan, La Roche Posay, LavAzza, Moet & Chandon, Mount Sinai, Polo Ralph Lauren, Rolex, Tiffany, Vital Proteins and Wilson.

Last August, ESPN and the USTA extended their relationship with a new, 12-year agreement valued at $2 billion by industry analysts that will keep the Grand Slam event on ESPN through 2037, following an 11-year, $825 million contract.

The deal, which starts in 2026 and is ESPN’s longest-term tennis agreement, also continues to make ESPN the home of the entire U.S. Open in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Canada on TSN and RDS. ESPN Deportes likewise continues as the exclusive Spanish-language home of the U.S. Open in the United States.   

In the new agreement, USTA will take over host broadcaster duties from ESPN beginning in 2026 as ESPN focuses its production resources on the more than 260 hours of annual coverage planned for the U.S., as well as hundreds of hours for international territories.  

“After many remarkable years of partnership, we are thrilled to extend our partnership with ESPN and the Walt Disney Company, a collaboration that has driven extraordinary growth for the U.S. Open,” Lew Sherr, USTA CEO and executive director, said at the time via the organization.

“Together, we will continue to leverage the U.S. Open as a powerful platform to promote our mission to inspire healthier people and communities.” 


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