BEIJING, November 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA), global leader in professional women's sports, and iQIYI, the largest online video content service platform in China, today announced they have signed a 10-year content partnership. From 2017, iQIYI will become the WTA's digital rights partner in China, providing fans with never-before access to women's tennis action.
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iQIYI will be bringing fans live transmission of over 2000 women's tennis matches, including singles and doubles, along with exclusive highlights, player interviews and content from the WTA Magazine Show. Non-exclusive rights include video clips and use of the WTA newsfeed. WTA content will be available to iQIYI users on their personal computers, mobile phones and Over The Top (OTT) TV via internet in English, Cantonese and Mandarin. This partnership follows iQIYI's successful acquirement of the rights to the 2014 Brazil World Cup, the China Open, the Grand Slams and PGA events amongst other major sports assets. Continuing to bring a wealth of quality sports content to internet users, iQIYI takes another step in securing its leadership position in this arena.
Geng Xiaohua, iQIYI Senior Vice President, said, "Since we were established in 2012, iQIYI Sports has featured tennis as part of its core programming and has broadcast WTA tournaments, including the China Open, WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, Wuhan Open, Tianjin Open, and Guangzhou Open. As the most influential women's sporting event in the world, WTA attracts a high-end audience, which is a perfect match for iQIYI's young, upwardly-mobile user base." Mr. Geng added, "As tennis' popularity continues to boom in China, we believe that iQIYI's high quality users and traffic make it the perfect channel for the WTA to further promote its tournaments in China."
Micky Lawler, WTA President said, "This is a first-of-its-kind partnership for the WTA in China. iQIYI's platform reinvents our digital offer in China in line with the new ways fans consume sports and entertainment content today, and in the future. We're thrilled to be working with a partner who fully embraces everything that is unique and premium about our sport."
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