Tennis
2023-01-05
50 years, BNP Paribas has supported tennis, with which it shares the values of fair play, reactivity and performance. The Group is now a major partner in global tennis, through a unique and historic commitment that has lasted since 1973 and applies to all levels of tennis practice throughout the world.
50 years on the same team
It all started in 1973, when the French Tennis Federation asked BNP Paribas to finance the construction of the center court box seats at Roland-Garros Stadium. In recognition of this partnership, three letters appeared on the famous court cover: BNP became the official sponsor of the Roland-Garros French Open, now one of the world’s foremost sporting events.
BNP Paribas, a partner for all tennis
BNP Paribas is now a major partner in global tennis through a unique, faithful and historical commitment that applies to all forms of tennis: singles, doubles, wheelchair tennis (World Team Cup, French Riviera Open, French Championships), team, family (BNP Paribas Family Trophy), amateur, university (BNP Paribas Master'U); from learning to the largest professional tournaments.
Roland-Garros was just the first in a long series of partnerships, developed with tournaments and professional competitions around the world: BNP Paribas as title sponsor of the Billie Jean King Cup, sponsor of three ATP Masters 1000 (BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, BNL Italian Open in Rome), Open 13 Provence (Marseille), Lyon Open Parc, Moselle Open (in Metz, France), BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open.
The Group also promotes corporate sport through its employee tournament, the ‘We Are Tennis Cup', which has become one of the world's leading corporate sporting events, involving over 3,000 employees each year.
Key dates
1973
BNP appears on the tarps at Roland-Garros.
1980
The Group expands support for amateur and professional tennis in France. Today BNP Paribas is a partner of three ATP 250 tournaments (Open 13 of Marseille, Lyon Open and Moselle Open in Metz) and three ATP Challengers (Bordeaux, Rennes and Vendée).
1993
First partnership for disabled athletes.
2000
BNP Paribas internationalizes partnerships, with the Fed Cup, Rome Masters, BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Monte Carlo Masters, BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open, etc.
2011
BNP Paribas' partnership goes digital with the launch of the digital platform We Are Tennis.
2015
The Group expands its commitment to tennis with the 'Aces du Cœurs' (support for hospitals), the launch of the BNP Paribas Young Talent Team (support for young tennis hopefuls) in 2018 and Félix Auger-Aliassime's initiative to support education in Togo in 2020.
2017
BNP Paribas becomes a partner of the largest Tennis gaming tournament, the Roland Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas.
Building tomorrow's tennis around sharing, transfer, and solidarity
BNP Paribas has been working for several years to set up a more committed and responsible sponsorship. How? By supporting positive impact programmes that promote equal opportunities and the inclusion of young people, such as the BNP Paribas Young Talent Team, the 'Aces du Cœur' (Aces of Hearts) solidarity scheme and the Félix Auger-Aliassime initiative to support education in Togo.
Turning today’s hopefuls into the champions of tomorrow
In 2018, BNP Paribas launched an initiative to help create the next generation of top-level tennis players. A total of 150 promising young players, across 7 teams in 6 countries, are now involved in the various support programmes created by BNP Paribas.
Team Young Talents France
- The BNP Paribas Young Talent Team, in association with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) and sponsored by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Launched in 2018, its objective is twofold: helping young French tennis talent progress in their sport and supporting them and their families so they can achieve their dreams. The BNP Paribas Young Talent Team is made up of 25 young French tennis hopefuls and will support up to 30 young people by 2024.
- The BNP Paribas Mac 1 Team in the United States, in partnership with the John and Patrick McEnroe tennis academy. This programme provides 10 young American players from the John McEnroe Tennis Academy with two types of support, one related to sport and the other, to more personal assistance, in order to give them the best chance of reaching the highest level of competition.
- The Fête le Mur Kids Team, a competitive team sponsored by Yannick Noah’s Fête le Mur association for 20 young players aged between five and nine. This programme helps prepare the youth for the challenges of competition through personal development.
Other programmes along these lines are being implemented, including in Italy, South Africa, Poland and Belgium. These initiatives are part of the BNP Paribas Group’s commitment policy towards today’s youth and are designed to support equal opportunities and inclusion for young people.
A solidarity programme
In 2022, the Young Talent Team in France launched a solidarity programme: for each point scored by the young players on the professional circuit, BNP Paribas will donate €1 to a solidarity project with the Apprentis d'Auteuil NGO. The aim is to offer young people from underprivileged areas a holiday and to introduce them to the game of tennis.
Alongside the ball persons for more than 20 years
Since 2000, BNP Paribas has also helped select Roland Garros' ball persons. In 2021, BNP Paribas and the FFT launched a platform dedicated to all the ball persons at Roland-Garros for the last 20 years or more, to enable these tennis enthusiasts to maintain contact through exclusive content and entertainment.
Tennis for solidarity
BNP Paribas supports Félix Auger-Aliassime in his commitment to child education in Togo. Considered as one of the most promising tennis players of his generation, he wishes to give meaning to his career beyond his sporting results and to have a positive impact on society.
In early 2020, he launched a solidarity programme with BNP Paribas to foster the future of young generations by improving education and protecting children's rights in the Kara region of Togo, his father's country of origin.
For every point the player wins on the ATP circuit, Félix Auger Aliassime gives $5 and BNP Paribas tops it up by $15. The amount raised finances the EduChange programme set up by the NGO Care. In January 2023, the counter has already tallied more than 16,600 points!
Félix Auger-Aliassime in Togo, for the #FAAPointsForChange programme.
The Aces du Coeur
In 2015, BNP Paribas launched the ‘Aces du Coeur’ (Aces of Hearts) so that, at its partner tournaments, aces scored by the players would drive up a counter dedicated to financing social and self-help projects (environment, gender equality, youth inclusion) or projects aimed at improving living conditions in the neonatology departments of hospitals near tournaments. For example, at Roland-Garros with the Robert Debré hospital, in Marseille with the hospital in La Timone, and for the CHU in Rennes.
Since 2015, nearly €600,000 has been transferred to the various projects supported by the Aces du Coeur.
We Are Tennis: Bringing together tennis fans and enthusiasts
In 2011, BNP Paribas created wearetennis.bnpparibas and related social networks, a platform entirely devoted to tennis news, with a constant flow of information about all the players and tournaments, all over the world. We Are Tennis is also an expression of a committed sponsor who wants to share its passion for this sport and to serve fans by providing them with unique experiences.
This platform, which has been rolled out internationally, notably in the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Belgium and Turkey, now includes over 3 million fans on the website and related social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).
« We Are Tennis Fan Academy »
As a long-standing tennis partner, BNP Paribas has innovated again and again, creating, in 2015, the ‘We Are Tennis Fan Academy,’ with international tennis legend, John McEnroe, as Captain and Ambassador. This first tennis fan school recruits and trains ‘super supporters,’ who know how to play by the rules and demonstrate fair play, to host the various tournaments and competitions sponsored by BNP Paribas around the world.
