With the tennis Grand Slam season about to embark onto European shores, a new study has found that reports of a sport in popular decline are somewhat off the mark.
Sports communications specialist has conducted a study into tennis sponsorship and found that levels of interest in the sport and its top tournaments even outscore seemingly more popular sports. Despite such popularity, however, sponsors are struggling to get their message across to these people.
In France, the French Open, which is due to begin on May 26 outscored the French national football championship in terms of interest. 49% of sports-interested French were interested in Roland Garros compared to 45% for Le Championnat.
Following events closely at Roland Garros will be Spanish tennis fans, who now represent the second largest group of sports fans after football. The success of Spanish tennis players, such as Carlos Moya, Alex Corretja and Juan Carlos Ferrero, who will start as one of the favourites in Paris, has meant that 30% of sports-interested Spanish named tennis as their favourite sport on TV, more than those naming the nationally popular sport of basketball (29%). Tennis’ popularity in Spain is confirmed by the fact that it is after football the second most-watched sport on TV.
‘Tennis is definitely not a dead sport,’ commented Hartmut Zastrow, Managing Director, SPORT+MARKT. Zastrow explained that the commercial problem with tennis lay not in declining levels of interest, but rather the sheer number of different sponsors and advertising forms crammed in and around the sport.
‘The sponsors – even long-term sponsors – are in many cases struggling to obtain good results,’ added Zastrow, outlining the results of the SPORT+MARKT study concerning well-known sponsors in tennis.
This was demonstrated by the fact that only two of the top six sponsors in tennis, Perrier and BNP Paribas, raised any awareness among European tennis fans, with a number of companies not involved in main sponsorship instead being mentioned.
The French Open will shortly be followed by the Wimbledon Championships, where a lack of British success over the years has not dampened levels of interest in the tournament among British tennis fans. Indeed, Wimbledon has a 50% higher level of interest among British tennis fans than the Olympic Games, in which tennis is a competitive sport.
89% of British tennis fans expressed interest in the oldest Grand Slam tournament, compared to 65% in the Olympics. This level of interest stood head and shoulders above the levels of interest in the Masters Series (22%) and the ATP Tour (21%).
However, UK sports fans remain largely ignorant of the sponsors involved in tennis with more than half unable to name a tennis sponsor in a recent SPORT+MARKT study. Sportswear manufacturer Adidas and soft drinks manufacturer Robinsons were the only companies to rate above 10% in awareness as tennis sponsors among UK sports fans.
The interest in Wimbledon is not confined to British shores. The past success of German players, such as Boris Becker and Michael Stich, in London SW9 has meant that 31% of Germans interested in sport hold an interest in Wimbledon. This was much stronger than their levels of interest in the Davis Cup (23%), The Masters Series (19%) and the ATP Tour (17%).
For further information please contact:
SPORT+MARKT AG Hazel Jay Pandya, Assistant Account Manager
COMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH Tel.: +49-(0)221 430 73 178
Luxemburger Strasse 299 Fax: +49-(0)221 430 73 131
50939 www.sportundmarkt.com
Cologne, Germany Hazel.Pandya@sportundmarkt.de