Renault, the French automotive giant, has struck an early extension to its partnership with the Roland Garros grand slam tennis tournament – the French Open – for another five years.
The brand has been a second-tier premium partner of the French Open since 2022 via an initial five-year deal agreed with the French Tennis Federation (FFT) that was set to expire after the 2026 edition.
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The extension will now take the pair’s partnership through the 2031 tournament.
The partnership sees Renault provide a fleet of electric vehicles for the tournament, while the carmaker’s logo features on the nets of the five main courts. The company also hosts several experiences for fans during the tournament.
Alongside activation at the tournament, Renault will sponsor the Roland Garros eSeries, the largest international virtual tennis competition, and the Roland Garros Junior Series, focused on emerging talents in Asia and South America.
Arnaud Belloni, Renault’s global marketing director, said: “This milestone demonstrates the success of our strategy initiated in 2021 with the choice of fewer but stronger, longer-lasting, and more impactful international partnerships.
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By GlobalData“Beyond Renault’s visibility in more than 220 countries, notably with the unprecedented presence of the Renault logo on the nets of the main courts, this partnership actively contributes to the transformation of the brand’s image.”
Roland Garros is now one of only a few main partnerships that Renault is focusing on – the other being with the French Rugby Federation – with it having streamlined its strategy to offer better value to those with which it is partnered.
It also had a front-of-shirt deal with Ligue 1 soccer side AS Monaco for the 2024-25 season, covering matches in the UEFA Champions League club competition.
Renault sits alongside Dubai-based airline Emirates, French sports brand Lacoste, and luxury watch brand Rolex as a premium partner to Roland Garros.
The tournament’s main partner is multinational bank BNP Paribas, while third-tier official partners include Engie, Haier, Infosys, Mastercard, Perrier, and Wilson.
The extension comes days after the men’s singles final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, which drew a strong audience for domestic broadcaster France Televisions, with an average of 5.5 million viewers tuning into the France 2 and France 3 channels to watch Alcaraz win an epic five-set tie.
The women’s singles match on Saturday that saw Coco Gauff beat Aryna Sabalenka, meanwhile, drew 3.15 million viewers on France 2 – the broadcaster's highest audience for a women’s French Open final in 20 years.
During the final weekend, media giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced it will continue to provide live coverage of the tournament across Europe until at least 2030 after extending its contract with the FFT.
The extension will see WBD air the tournament on its Eurosport and TNT Sports linear channels across all European territories except France, with TNT Sports remaining the exclusive broadcaster in the UK and Ireland.
WBD also provides coverage to the tournament in the US via its linear TNT, TBS, and truTV networks as part of a separate 10-year deal worth a reported $650 million that started with this year’s edition.
