By Amy Boytz
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Squash will finally make its way onto televisions across the United States starting in 2003. As we go to press, we have learned that The Tennis Channel, a soon-to-launch cable station devoted to racquet sports, has secured the broadcast rights to the three major international squash championships in North America, in an agreement with Boston-based promoter Event Engine. Scheduled to air in the coming year are the Harrisdirect Tournament of Champions from New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, the men’s US Open in Boston’s Symphony Hall, and the Canadian Open in Toronto.
Additional squash events, classic matches and instructional programming could join the broadcast schedule in 2004. “First and foremost we have a commitment to showing great squash,” asserts Steve Bellamy, president and founder of The Tennis Channel (TTC).
“This deal allows us to show the absolute apex of a sport that is incredible to watch and never seen on television in America. There are 15 million squash players in 122 nations around the world and more than 400,000 players in the US. We think it is incredibly important to service this extremely fanatical niche because they are so passionate about their sport and it is so complimentary to tennis,” states Bellamy in a press release.
“This is a landmark step for squash,” says John Nimick, president of Event Engine, the company responsible for the three North American events. “The Tennis Channel is giving our exciting and dynamic sport a chance to promote itself to a broad audience in a way never possible before. By partnering with The Tennis Channel to broadcast a regular schedule of squash programming, we can reach the hundreds of thousands of national squash players out there, while introducing the sport to millions more.
“In places like England, Pakistan and Egypt, squash packs giant venues,” adds Nimick. “While the sport has gone largely unnoticed in the United States, the recent rise of talented American players coupled with the broadcast reach of The Tennis Channel will quickly raise awareness of this compelling game.”
Though details of the US broadcast schedule have yet to be confirmed, according to Nimick all three North American tournaments will air in primetime slots (to be determined whether weekday or weekend), and each of the three tournaments will have a total of six to seven hours of coverage. Nimick says, “The plan is for an hour a week from mid-March to the end of April,” which will include six or seven programs of coverage all from the New York event. Squash on TTC will echo reality and take a hiatus during the summer. Then, in the fall a similar multiple-segment format will showcase the US Open and Canadian tournaments. Included in the squash programming will likely be the semifinals and final of each tournament.
“We have [worked with] ESPN over the last three years out of New York. But we’ve been shown during a weekday at 1, 2 or 3 pm, so definitely not in a primetime slot,” explains Nimick, who is executive producing the squash content for the station. “The Tennis Channel is giving us a primetime slot. We’ll be able to point the national squash community to a time on a day every week of the season. That’s the goal.”
“Almost like ‘Friends’ is a destination for some people, or ‘The Sopranos,’ I want there to be a squash destination,” Bellamy says.
As of yet, no live coverage from the squash events in 2003 are scheduled; however, Nimick suggests that this may be a possibility in the future.
Joining forces to broadcast the 2003 tournaments is Jean DeLierre, who produces numerous squash videos retailed across the globe. “Jean is the first person I turned to, and we’ve had extensive contact and communication over this. We’re planning to work together as a partnership on the programming to come from New York, and presumably for the first season,” Nimick says.
As for who will commentate during the broadcasts, nothing is in stone.
One of the common obstacles to filming squash, whether in still photography or video, is the lighting on the court (or lack thereof). That problem is all but solved, at least for events in North America. Event Engine will borrow WISPA’s all-glass court for the three events in 2003. “This court definitely has better lighting and better clarity,” Nimick says. Nimick is optimistic about the future. “The other goal is to create more tournaments that have a high-quality broadcast opportunity so that then we’re not reliant on just three events to provide match content,” he says.
The Tennis Channel will debut on US cable channels at the end of 2002 or early 2003. As of press time, Bellamy stated that the station is lined up in “38 percent of cable homes in America under contract.” The station is a 24-hour-a-day, traditional, ad-supported cable network.
“Squash is a great sport. It’s been significantly under-programmed, under-marketed, under-publicized. And my network is an entity that can help it out,” says Bellamy, who’s been known to whack a squash ball around the court in his day. “Squash will be a big priority for the channel.”
Funding definitely is a component that will drive squash’s future with the station—and a component that falls largely on the shoulders of Nimick. “I think I have the capability of producing 20-26 hours for The Tennis Channel, although I also need to ensure that I build the funding side of this project so that it prospers,” Nimick says. “It’s a great opportunity that I know needs support. There’s no several-hundred thousand dollar sponsor behind the television. This is a venture that I think is important for the sport,” Nimick says. “This isn’t the answer to all of squash’s problems, but it’s a great tool in moving us forward. It is truly groundbreaking.”
“I think it’s the most exciting thing that I’ve been involved with as an independent promoter of the game,” Nimick says. “It has the opportunity to give us all in the sport a national touchstone.”
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