Australian Open serves up a brand bonanza … for those willing to pay

Australia’s best tennis player Alex de Minaur has reached the level of celebrity that he can transform a room merely by stepping into it.

Despite having a charity match in the evening and a Rod Laver Arena practice session fast approaching, he’s here on a terrace overlooking Rod Laver Arena to spend 30 minutes meeting a sponsorship obligation. More astonishingly, he’s doing it for free.

New World Vision Australia ambassador Alex de Minaur chats to brothers Matthew ‘Mouse’ Bates, 15 (left) and Luc Bates, 17, who are part of World Vision’s Young Mob program.

For two weeks in January, the Australian Open is not merely the centre of the sporting world, but the centre of the branding and marketing world as well. The world’s eyes are fixed on the tournament and where people’s attention goes brands quickly follow, offering millions of dollars to get noticed.

“It’s a bit of a party,” said global director for tennis at New Balance,Evan Zeder. The sportswear company this year built a shop, complete with rooftop hospitality suite, next to Rod Laver Arena.

Zeder describes it as: “A place that people want to come and have fun … not just watch sport, but they want to engage themselves. We want to play in the intersection of sport and culture.”

US tennis player Coco Gauff after winning her first round match wearing New Balance.

And he’s not the only one. From the gate through which you enter Melbourne Park to the sunscreen sample you are offered outside centre court, there’s a brand paying top dollar get in front of your eyes at this year’s Open.

The tournament has sewn up a string of brand partnerships such from its longstanding deal with carmaker Kia – which last year re-signed for $107 million for five years – to a new tie-in with luxury brand Louis Vuitton, which is branding the trophy cases for the first time and paying an undisclosed sum for the privilege.

The Australian Open has 37 brand partners confirmed for this tournament.

But de Minaur, whose sponsors have included Asics, Swisse and TAG Heuer, was on the terrace to announce his ambassadorship with World Vision Australia – a pro-bono partnership.

“It’s been a long way to this process. I’ve been wanting to give a helping hand in some sort of way,” he said. “For me, it’s extremely important to be able to help out the younger generation because ultimately they’re going to be in charge of the world after us. And I had a lot of help growing up.”

De Minaur, 24, passed this message to Luc Bates, 17, and his younger brother Matthew “Mouse” Bates, 15, Kamilaroi teenagers from Scone in NSW visiting the tennis as part of World Vision Australia’s Young Mob program.

“He’s Australian though and through, but he works and lives on the global stage,” said Daniel Wordsworth, the chief executive officer of World Vision Australia which has walked alongside First Nations people in Australia for 50 years.

World Vision Australia ambassadors have included Hugh Jackman, Melissa Doyle, Liz Ellis and Rebecca Gibney, he said.

But one ambassador stood beyond all others. “I don’t think there has been an Australian who has done more to raise money around the world than Kylie Minogue,” Wordsworth said.

Ralph Lauren, the tournament’s official outfitter, is estimated to pay about $6 million to $7 million to the Australian Open.

“World Vision has been built on the idealism of teenagers and she was the start of all of that … [since then] we have sent about $3 billion overseas.”

Suncare company Bondi Sands has just signed another three-year deal with the Australian Open to distribute its sunscreen at the tournament, which co-founder and chief executive Shaun Wilson said was worth “millions of dollars” and used up to 75 per cent of the company’s SPF marketing budget.

“It’s an iconic event, it’s obviously got amazing global appeal. It’s very gender-neutral, which is really important for us as well,” Wilson said. “And ultimately, it’s got great participation here in Australia.”

Sponsorship figures are tightly guarded and almost never confirmed. Industry estimates, not confirmed by brands, said the Chinese spirit Guojiao (meaning National Cellar) 1573 which has a court named in its honour, the 1573 Arena, was pre-pandemic paying about $US14 million a year ($19.9 million). COVID-19 slashed the sponsorship to about $US8 million.

Sources familiar with the other commercial agreements said last year Emirates and Rolex paid about $6 million each annually.

Ralph Lauren, the official outfitter, is estimated to pay about $6 million to $7 million, while Marriott and CHUBB were in the range of $3 million a year. Piper-Heidsieck and Bondi Sands were between $1 million and $2 million cash – and a lot of product.

Hotel giant Marriott is in its third year of Australian Open sponsorship. It’s the branding partner for the “premium entrances” where no queues are required, along with allocated seats in the stadium, a corporate box and the Marriott Bonvoy lounge – a marquee that operates like a hotel executive lounge.

Collingwood captain Darcy Moore at an Emirates dinner on Tuesday.

“They call that street ‘Millionaires Lane’,” said Florencia Aimo, director of marketing for Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands at Marriott International. “That lounge is located in between MasterCard … and Rolex and there’s a couple of companies that have those lounges, but it’s quite exclusive.”

Marriott will host more than 1000 people through the two weeks of the tournament to behind the scenes tours, special dinners and matches that Aimo said was “invaluable face-to-face engagement”.

The Emirates deal includes a supply of seats in Rod Laver Arena for guests and having its air stewards standing either side of the players’ entrance to centre court at the Open.

The airline’s marquee, which has hosted numerous members of its other sponsorship property Collingwood Football Club including Darcy Moore and Nick Daicos, attracting TV news cameras, includes a replica of its A380 aeroplane bar.

Champagne house Piper-Heidsieck is in the sixth year of its sponsorship of the Australian Open and has added a second bar this year, Le Kiosk in Garden Square, to accompany its Parisian bistro at the side of Rod Laver Arena.

Piper-Heidsieck managing director Benoit Collard at his brand’s opening night function.

“This is a tennis lifestyle, sport, music and food event that sort of to me defines what is great about Australia,” Piper-Heidsieck general manager Benoit Collard said. “It is a unique combination of glamour and joy.”

When US player Coco Gauff reflected on her first round victory at the Open, The Age reported it thus: “I think I’m always nervous in the first round of slams,” she said following the match, which she played in a striking, bright yellow New Balance two-piece.

“I just told myself, ‘I feel good, I look good’,” Gauff said. Zeder from the brand could not have been more pleased with the coverage.

New Balance’s global director for tennis had persuaded his privately owned US company, which wants to be a clear number three in sports apparel, to sign Gauff as a promising 14-year-old.

Now Gauff, 19, is US Open champion and world No.4. Zeder is hosting her parents Candi and Corey in a private hospitality suite above the New Balance merchandise store in the shadow of Rod Laver Arena.

Where, of course, exact replicas of Gauff’s “striking, bright yellow two-piece” are on sale. The Coco Gauff Melbourne top (that is its actual name) sells for $120 and the Coco Gauff Melbourne skirt for $130.

“Success means you have had a million or so fans walk through the gates and they left with a better impression of our brand and a different experience than they expected,” Zeder said.

“Of course we are here and we’d love to sell product. But we want the people … who are getting to know our brand … to come in and have an experience and an impression of New Balance that leaves them excited about the brand and a lasting impression.”

The University of Melbourne’s Associate Professor Greg Nyilasy, an expert on management and marketing, said the appeal for companies in sponsoring the Australian Open was that it was itself a huge brand with high visibility.

“There is certainly very positive associations in the consuming market with the brand of the Australian Open,” he said. “The essence of sponsorship is taking advantage of already existing positive feelings and thoughts in the event, so that those would rub off on the brand.”

However, Nyilasy said brand association went both ways, with the Australian Open coming under scrutiny in the past for having imported Chinese bottled water brand Ganten as a sponsor.

“It’s a two-way street,” he said. “The big question is really whether it is worth it. With so many sponsors there is a question of how much exposure you get as sponsor.”

Tennis Australia’s revenue plummeted during the pandemic to $358 million in 2021, but surged back to $505 million in 2022 – with partnerships making up a significant chunk.

Tennis Australia chief commercial officer Cedric Cornelis said the tournament customised its commercial deals for each brand partner to ensure they delivered return on investment.

“For some partners the importance will be on the global media exposure, for others it will be more about the on-site activation that needs to be seen by fans and for others it will be the hospitality of VIPs,” he said.

Undoubtedly, the straight sets victory of the first week went to Uber One. It brought four-time AO champion Andre Agassi out for the opening night to blanket media coverage and intense interest from the public who felt like they were welcoming back an old friend.

Agassi frequented the Uber One Sunday event, watched a match with Tennis Australia chair Jayne Hrdlicka and was special guest at her private hospitality suite that evening.

Even acting premier Ben Carroll revealed himself to be a superfan and urged guests during his speech to read Agassi’s raw and honest memoir Open.

Next, of course, Uber One rolled out its TV commercial featuring Agassi. The ad was filmed in Sydney last year – the tennis showman had slipped into Australia unnoticed after an absence of five or six years.

Andre Agassi (centre right) attends the opening day of the Australian Open with acting Victorian premier Ben Carroll (left) and Tennis Australia chairman Jayne Hrdlicka.

Also returning after a gap of several years is Elle Macpherson.While tennis isn’t the first thing that springs to mind when considering the former supermodel, Macpherson will give the tournament’s prestigious Inspirational Series lecture on January 25, previously delivered by former prime minister Julia Gillard and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.

Ralph Lauren will also host Macpherson at a women’s match, and Macpherson herself will host selected guests at an event in the city to promote her own brand of plant-based elixirs.

That brand is called WelleCo, and if it fails to impinge on your consciousness before the Open finishes, then someone, somewhere, has failed to do their job.

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Key points

The Australian Open has 37 brand partners confirmed for this tournament.

The tournament in 2024 is expected to host 800 players and over 900,000 fans.

Tennis Australia’s revenue plummeted during the pandemic to $358 million in 2021.

It surged back to $505 million in 2022 with partnerships making up a big chunk of revenue.