What happens when you miss out on matches that you were really looking forward to watching? Something similar happened to American tennis fans recently as they missed the finals of a WTA 1000 today. Jessica Pegula was playing against another American Amanda Anisimova bringing much intrigue to the viewers. However, despite many attempts, subscribers couldn’t watch it live! Now they vent their frustration cursing broadcasters’ negligence over fans.
Defending champion Pegula played against Anisimova in the finals of the Canadian Open today. While the match was exciting because two American WTA stars faced off against each other, the broadcasting platform Tennis Channel ruined its subscribers’ opportunity to catch their match live.
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Polls of the day Poll 1 of 4 Do you think the American broadcaster’s decision to cut away from Pegula’s match was justified? Absolutely not Yes, they had a reason No, it was disrespectful I don’t care Have an interesting take? Join Debate How excited are you to see Andre Agassi join Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek for Kids’ Day? Extremely excited Somewhat excited Not excited at all Couldn’t care less Have an interesting take? Join Debate Do you agree with the American tennis legend’s outright rejection of pickleball advice? Absolutely Not at all Somewhat No opinion Have an interesting take? Join Debate Do you think the NCAA’s stringent rules are fair to young American tennis talents? Yes, they maintain integrity No, they hinder potential Only in certain cases Not sure Have an interesting take? Join Debate
Pegula defeated Anisimova by 6-3, 2-6, and 6-1. It was an exciting match. However, the Tennis Channel repeated their mistake, something they did during the French Open. Despite being an official broadcasting platform in the USA, Tennis Channel had a limited slot for showing live matches. As a result, people then missed out on Djokovic’s four-hour-long matches because they fell out of the given timeslot. “I knew Djokovic-Musetti was a Peacock exclusive, but when matches run past the expected 4-hour window, you would THINK contractual details would allow @TennisChannel to rejoin coverage. The expectation is Peacock would have coverage from 3-7 Eastern, but we’re way beyond that now,” tweeted one subscriber.
After that same mistake during Pegula’s Toronto final, fans shared how they subscribed to catch live updates and received replays only.
Fans share anguish over Tennis Channel’s poor broadcasting policy
Many users took the platform of X and started venting their frustration with others. “Why do I pay for @espn and @TennisChannel, yet I can’t watch the WTA final between @AnisimovaAmanda and @JPegula? This is some bullshit,” one subscriber wrote. People were frustrated because they missed out on the finals of a WTA 1000 tour because of the broadcasters’ negligence. This happened during Madison Keys and Tommy Paul’s matches during the 2024 French Open. People were left stranded without proper broadcasting of the American players’ matches.
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Soon more people expressed their frustration with X and wished that some other broadcasting platforms get the rights to all the WTA tour matches and its broadcasting. “I pray that someone else gets the rights to show ALL ATP/WTA tour events. Sometimes TC+ shows 1000/500 every match live, sometimes it doesn’t. No discernible rhyme or reason. The powers that be must realize no one under 50 has cable. How do you expect to build an audience?” wrote one user. This scenario reminded people of the recent French Open broadcasting issue. People missed out on Djokovic’s matches because the Tennis Channel had a limited slot for broadcasting live ones.
Frustrated fans commented directly under Tennis Channel’s promotional post on X and said, “Howww??? Not on TC Plus we can’t…” It clearly showcased the disappointment of the tennis audience not being able to watch Pegula’s finals despite having a proper subscription. Another user directly commented under this and mentioned about looking forward to canceling their subscription. “The lack of live programming on TC+ is very deceiving (and dishonest)!!! Need to look into cancelling my subscription!!!” wrote this subscriber.
Another fan also expressed concern over the replay and said, “Can’t wait for the replay (not).” There was a clear frustration among everyone who believed they could watch Pegula’s victory over Anisimova since they had legit Tennis Channel subscriptions. Now, they have nothing but the replay to watch to get the highlights. In the 2022 French Open, the same issue occurred during Djokovic’s match against Rafael Nadal. People missed out on the match.
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Tennis fans urged reporters to make a story on Tennis Channel’s stupidity of not broadcasting the WTA 1000 finals live. “@racquetmagazine hello – curious if you or if you know any reporters have done a story about how Tennis Channel has pulled the rug out from Tennis channel + subscribers? The platform has gone from live matches to barely any live matches, just replays. Looking for answers,” wrote the user. This fan’s comment could showcase sheer disappointment as they could only watch replays and not the live match.
Fans’ disappointment over Tennis Channel’s broadcasting issue remains a constant problem over the months. Despite complaining about it many times, there has been no accurate solution to this. Following fans’ recent outburst of anger on X, let’s see whether Tennis Channel becomes serious or not. Otherwise, this time they might lose subscribers seriously.