French Open even more French than usual...on the sponsorship front

As one of the world's four Grand Slam tennis championships, the French Open has always had a special feel to it. The red claycourts at Roland Garros offer a distinctive look on domestic and worldwide television. Its timing and positioning as the unofficial start to summer in France and Europe (and throughout the northern hemisphere for that matter) gives every rendition a sense of renewal and optimism. More than anything, its setting in Paris makes it the most cosmopolitan of the Grand Slams and one of the more metropolitan of sports events in the world.

Yet this year, more than ever, there is a distinctly French and European feel to the presentation of the French Open.

That's because six of the Grand Slam tournament's 10 biggest sponsors are French brands. Two more are European classics. And only two are American.

The show stealer is BNP Paribas, the Paris-based, French national bank that has become synonymous with the French Open in particular and tennis in general. In addition to Roland Garros, BNP Paribas has links to the Paris Open indoor event, the Davis Cup world team tennis championships for men and, most interestingly, is in the second year of its title sponsorship of the popular Indian Wells ATP Tour event in California (its first major foray into North America).

At Roland Garros, BNP Paribas is not only marketing itself to French businesses and consumers, it is reaching out to new markets on all five continents, especially with a new english tagline centered around its mission to be a bank that's making a difference.

The same goes for most of the other five French brands associated with the French Open, especially automaker Peugeot, iconic tennis and sportswear designer Lacoste, mineral water Perrier and eyewear retailer Afflelou. French television network OrangeSport, a specialist in soccer, tennis and cycling, is likely more intent on consolidating its position within Europe, but nonetheless, as they watch French Open telecasts this week and next, many around the world will be at least asking: what is OrangeSport? 

Powerhouse brands such as Adidas of Germany and Longines of Switzerland round out the European roster at Roland Garros, while IBM and FedEx give the French Open show courts at least some U.S. corporate content.

Make no mistake, however. French brands are calling the French Open their own in the first year of the new decade. And they're doing so with pan-European and global ambitions.

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