·         Prime-time Action on ESPN3 to include Option with SpiderCam View, Cameras Focused on Each Player

·         First Time in Use at US Open

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For the first time at the US Open, ESPN will offer “ESPN3 Surround” during prime-time matches from Arthur Ashe Stadium – an option to view the action with four boxes on the screen:

• the traditional view of the action from one end of the court
• the view from above via SpiderCam
• plus two smaller boxes in the lower corners of the screen showing each player exclusively.

“ESPN3 Surround” will debut with the start of the tournament and ESPN’s multi-media coverage on Monday, Aug. 25, and Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM at 7 p.m. ET. It will be offered for all nine evening sessions ESPN televises from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York: Monday, Aug. 25 – Friday, Aug. 29, and Monday, Sept. 1 – Thursday, Sept. 4.

Overall, ESPN3 will provide 400 hours of live competition with up to seven courts to choose from, in addition to the 100 on ESPN and ESPN2.

“Tennis fans know the value of ’ESPN3 on tour’ all year long,” said Jason Bernstein, ESPN senior director, programming and acquisitions. “In that we offer more live tennis on the network than anywhere else, ‘ESPN3 Surround’ is the perfect companion for fans wanting to take their digital grounds pass even closer to Primetime at the Open. ‘ESPN3 Surround’ has blossomed into a must-have, second-screen experience alongside the most compelling ESPN live events, games and matches.”

First used this past February for a Duke vs. North Carolina NCAA men’s basketball game, “ESPN3 Surround” utilizes multiple cameras and live, natural sound from the venue to provide fans with alternate perspectives of the event. It has been used on a wide variety of top events, including the NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four, the NCAA Hockey Frozen Four, the WNBA Draft, X Games, the semifinals and championships at Wimbledon, throughout the FIFA World Cup from Brazil, and even the July 4 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

About ESPN3

ESPN3 is ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network, a 24/7 destination that delivers thousands of global sports events annually via WatchESPN.  It is available to 85 million homes at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider.  The network is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers, smartphones and tablets connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military broadband and Wi-Fi networks.

ESPN & the US Open in 2015

In May 2013, ESPN and the USTA announced that ESPN would be the exclusive home in North and South America of the US Open from first ball through the women’s and men’s championships each summer from New York beginning in 2015. ESPN has televised approximately100 hours of live US Open matches annually since 2009, and will air 130+ hours with the addition of day-long coverage of the “middle weekend” – Saturday, Sunday and Labor Day Monday – plus both the men’s and women’s semifinals and finals. The 11-year agreement also includes expanded digital and international rights.

ESPN and the US Open

• ESPN2’s live coverage of opening night Monday, Aug. 25, will include a three-song set from Arthur Ashe Stadium by Fitz and the Tantrums. As a lead-in to the group’s performance, a ceremony with1984 US Open champions John McEnroe of ESPN and Martina Navratilova will conclude with them triggering the lighting of New York’s Empire State Building.
• During the first week of the tournament, the television coverage will start on ESPN at 1 p.m. each weekday and will continue nonstop – transitioning to ESPN2 at 6 p.m. (except Tuesday) – for at least 10 hours through both the day and the 7 p.m. Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM sessions until play is concluded.
• The second week starts on Labor Day Monday, Sept 1, with Primetime at the US Open presented by IBM at 7 p.m. on ESPN2, followed by more day-long windows Tuesday – Thursday, again starting on ESPN.
• ESPN3 will offer nearly 400 hours of action from multiple courts each day ESPN has TV coverage, including an additional seventh court this year during the first week when the action begins each day at 1 p.m.
• All the action on ESPN and ESPN2 is also available through WatchESPNonline at WatchESPN.com on smartphones and tablets via the award-winning WatchESPN app, and streamed on televisions through ESPN on Xbox LIVE to Gold members, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV to more than 92 million households nationwide via an affiliated video or internet provider.

ESPN – All Four Slams, All In One Place

Tennis has been part of ESPN since its first week on the air and provided many memorable moments, but it has never been as important as today, with the US Open joining the lineup in 2009, giving ESPN all four Grand Slam events, something no other U.S. network has ever done, let alone in one year. ESPN has presented the Australian Open since 1984, the French Open since 2002 (plus 1986 – 1993), and Wimbledon since 2003, with exclusivity for live television with all other rights extended in a 12-year agreement starting in 2012. Exclusivity for the US Open in an 11-year agreement begins in 2015. ESPN3 delivers an unmatched multi-screen presentation of the sport’s four majors, all ATP 1000 and 500 tournaments, WTA Premier Events and season-ending championships for both tours.

ESPN / ESPN2 & US Open 2014

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