French Bank BNP Paribas To Title Indian Wells Tennis Tourney
By Daniel Kaplan, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal
BNP Paribas will be unveiled today as the new title sponsor of the tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, the second biggest tennis tourney in the U.S. behind only the U.S. Open. The deal is for five years, with an option for another five. Financial terms were not disclosed. BNP also sponsors the Masters event in Paris, meaning two of the top nine events on the ATP World Tour are titled by the French bank. The California event will be called the BNP Paribas Open, while the Paris October stop is called the BNP Paribas Masters. Pacific Life stepped aside last summer as the title sponsor, and the event struggled to find a replacement. BNP, which is making a push to be a global bank, sees the event as a good way to reach U.S. consumers, said Steve Simon, the tournament's COO. He added the tournament's international TV reach was also appealing to BNP. The event will be televised on FSN, though discussion with Tennis Channel could result in some matches moving to that channel. The tournament, which is a mixed Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and ATP event, is scheduled for March 9-22. Simon said BNP's only sports marketing is in tennis -- the bank also sponsors the Davis Cup and the French Open.
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