International Business Machines did not provide web and computing services for the Australian Open, and will not for the French Open in May.
It is the first time in two decades that IBM is not providing its services to all four of the tennis Grand Slams. It will continue to do so for Wimbledon and the U.S. Open through its sponsorship and vendor relationships with those events.
“We were planning to diversify our portfolio,” said Noah Syken, IBM’s vice president of sports and entertainment partnerships. “Overly concentrated in tennis.”
The Australian Open, which ended last month, went through hiccups, with its website receiving poor reviews from commentators from The New York Times and Sports Illustrated. The scores often did not load, and simple functions like checking past matches had incomplete results.
“It’s no small task operating an event like that,” Syken said.“Experience matters.”
Darren Pearce, the tournament spokesman, did not reply for comment. A source said the tournament handled web services internally for this year’s event.
It’s unclear how the French Open will handle its website. Frenchopen.com has the message “Find out soon the brand new rolandgarros.com.” (Europeans refer to the tournament as Roland Garros.) The site has no player or historical tournament information. Pierre-Henry Brandet, spokesman for the French Open, did not reply for comment.
It was unclear whether IBM walked away from the Australian Open and French Open relationships or if the company tried to first renew those deals.
IBM has used these events as showcases for its technological know-how, escorting hundreds of clients through back-office operations on-site. Expertise ranges from maintaining the websites to infusing artificial intelligence into the wayfinding function on a tournament’s app.
