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USTA Launches Branded Channels on YouTube

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The USTA today announced it is creating multiple USTA-branded channels that will be dedicated to tennis on YouTube™, the leading online video community that allows people to discover, watch and share originally created videos. The USTA will offer two channels on YouTube, one devoted to professional tennis, and the other devoted to recreational tennis.

The first channel, the USOpen Channel (youtube.com/usopen) is set to launch immediately. Content will include daily updates from the US Open, including post-match player interviews, an “Explore the Open” feature, an “Off Court Spotlight” feature, and an “Inside the Media Center” feature. During week two, the website will also feature a daily Junior Report on the US Junior Open.

Additionally, the website will air promotional videos for the US Open and Olympus US Open Series. Fans will be able to engage with the site by watching videos, subscribing to the channel, favoriting videos and posting comments. They can also embed the channel’s videos on their own websites through YouTube’s Open Application Programming Interface (API).

The USOpen Channel will not include any match footage from either the US Open or the Olympus US Open Series. Such footage can be found exclusively at olympususopenseries.com, usta.com, and usopen.org, respectively.

The second channel (youtube.com/tennis) will be entirely devoted to recreational tennis and is scheduled to launch later this fall. This website will feature instructional videos, footage from local USTA events, and will allow users to upload their own tennis clips. As with the USOpen Channel, fans will be able to freely access, comment on and forward these videos, allowing them to reach the widest possible audience while maintaining an exclusive video experience on the official websites.

“YouTube has quickly become embedded in the world’s digital culture” said Pierce O’Neil, Chief business Officer, USTA. “The USTA looks forward to distributing entertaining content to an expanded global audience through this new tennis-themed interactive YouTube channel.”

The 2008 US Open will mark the culmination of the Olympus US Open Series, the six-week summer tennis season linking all major ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournaments in North America to the US Open. The US Open is the highest attended annual sporting event in the world. More than 75 million viewers watched the 2007 US Open on CBS Sports and USA Network, and international broadcasts reached more than 180 countries.

Posted on August 28, 2008
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