After various reports that Sinclair was exploring a potential sale or spinoff of Tennis Channel, it appears the network is not going anywhere.
In an interview with Dade Hayes of Deadline, Tennis Channel CEO Jeff Blackburn refuted any suggestion that the network’s corporate parent would sell the single-sport network.
“That’s gone, that was several years ago,” Blackburn told Deadline when asked about Sinclair’s “strategic review” of Tennis Channel. Former Tennis Channel CEO Ken Solomon revealed in a lawsuit filed last year that Sinclair had directed him to explore a sale process for the network, and Solomon returned with multiple purchase offers that valued Tennis Channel at over $1 billion. Sinclair purchased the network for $350 million back in 2016.
Last August, CNBC reported that Sinclair was exploring potential mergers and its “ventures” division, which includes Tennis Channel, was being reviewed for separate M&A opportunities tied to a spinoff. In the months since, Sinclair has moved to takeover another local station group, Scripps, but those efforts have so far been unsuccessful.
In any case, Blackburn expressed confidence that Sinclair sees Tennis Channel as an asset worth keeping.
“Sinclair, to their credit, made a great acquisition,” Blackburn said. “They did a lot of good things for it on distribution. And they are great partner for us. And they made a good decision, I think, to say, ‘Let’s reinvest in Tennis Channel.’ It’s working. Let’s hire someone like me. Let’s get the digital part right. So that’s what they did. So, it’s not on the market. We don’t need investments. We don’t need anything. We just need to kind of work on our own business and improve it, cross the bridge into streaming.”
Tennis Channel, while not having any exclusive broadcast rights to the sport’s four grand slam events, owns full rights for both the ATP Tour and WTA Tour, making it a must-have network for any tennis fan looking to follow the sport year-round. That alone makes it a valuable enterprise, before even considering the affluent audience tennis attracts.
If Tennis Channel were for sale, there would surely be a handful of interested buyers. But it seems, at least for now, Sinclair is content holding onto the asset.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.