BBC extends broadcast deal with Queen's Club as Andy Murray commits to playing event for remainder of his career
The BBC has extended its partnership with The Queens Club to continue showing the Aegon Championships until 2024.
Andy Murray's committment to continue playing at Queen's will provide a huge boost of the BBC's audience numbers
The new seven-year deal will see the BBC continue to broadcast the tennis tournament on TV, radio and online.
It coincides with the confirmation that Andy Murray has committed to playing in the tournament for the rest of his career, guaranteeing a substantial audience boost for the BBC.
"To know that Andy will play at The Queen's Club for the rest of his career and that the BBC will cover it every step of the way is a huge boost," said tournament director Stephen Farrow.
Murray recorded his fifth Queen’s title in what was a stellar year for the Scot who went on to claim his second Wimbledon title and a second Olympic gold medal before finishing the year as world number one.
Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport, described the tournament as "one of the most cherished events in the tennis calendar” and hailed the move to continue broadcasting it.
She added: "It's great that the BBC will continue to bring it to audiences across all platforms until 2024.
"With a British tennis player as the current world number one, there's no better time for us to reinforce our commitment to the sport."
The new deal and Murray’s involvement will come as a huge boost to the BBC which has had to significantly reduce its sports rights expenditure as part of drastic cost saving measures. Most recently the broadcaster was outbid by Channel 4 for the rights to the Women’s Euro 2017 tournament.