ATP Media has signed a landmark three-year global partnership with immersive sports technology company L1VE, granting the company worldwide immersive live rights across the ATP Tour and establishing immersive viewing as a new layer within the sport’s media rights ecosystem.
Effective from October 1, 2026 through December 31, 2028, the agreement covers nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, the Nitto ATP Finals, as well as ATP 500 and ATP 250 events. The rights package includes live events, highlights and replays.
The partnership will launch with the Rolex Shanghai Masters in October, with three ATP events set to be produced in an immersive format during 2026 before the agreement reaches its full scope in 2027.
L1VE will deliver the experiences through its Social Presence platform, using stereoscopic 360-degree video to give fans access to virtual courtside and baseline perspectives. The technology is designed to recreate the sense of physical attendance, enabling audiences to experience matches from different positions within the venue through compatible immersive headsets, including Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro.
Holger Hansen, Co-Founder and CEO, L1VE, said, “We founded L1VE so that being at the biggest matches would no longer depend on where you live or whether a seat was available. Social Presence is not a better way to watch tennis; it is the match itself, lived from inside the venue with the people you choose. Bringing that to the ATP Tour is a milestone for us and for live sport.”
David Morgenbesser, Chief Commercial Officer, L1VE, added, “What sets this agreement apart is its scale and its length. ATP Media has not licensed a single event to try the format out; it has licensed the Tour, worldwide, for three years. That gives the sport a revenue line that grows as Immersive grows, and it opens a place for partners and sponsors to meet fans that did not exist before.”
Tom Bullock, Chief Operating Officer, ATP Media, continued, “Immersive is a genuinely new way for audiences to experience our events, and it sits alongside our broadcast and streaming distribution rather than competing with it. Working with L1VE allows us to extend the reach of ATP Tour tennis to fans who cannot be in the stadium, while protecting the production quality and the integrity of the sport that our partners expect.”
The partnership introduces a ticket-based immersive model, with L1VE offering day and tournament passes. For ATP Media, the agreement creates an additional avenue for audience growth and rights monetisation, while L1VE gains access to one of tennis’ most extensive global event portfolios.
The deal marks a significant step in the evolution of sports media rights, as immersive experiences increasingly emerge as a distinct commercial product alongside traditional television, streaming and digital distribution.
