Sponsorship Analysis: Australian Open Tennis Tournament Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Australian Open tennis tournament's event sponsorship strategies. It begins with an introduction to the tournament, its goals, and social benefits, followed by an examination of market segmentation and brand attributes. The report explores various income sources, including ticket sales, sponsorships from companies like Kia, Rolex, and ANZ, broadcasting rights, and merchandise. A significant portion focuses on potential sponsor types, detailing the rationale behind sponsorships from ANZ, Kia, Seven, Rolex, and Toshiba. A detailed sponsor proposal for ANZ is included, outlining their vision, success to date, audience demographics, and potential benefits. The report concludes with a summary of key findings and recommendations, providing a thorough overview of the sponsorship landscape within the Australian Open.

RUNNING HEAD: Event Sponsorship 0
Australian open
Event Sponsorship

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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................1
Details of Australia open tennis tournament..............................................................................1
Community/ Social benefits.......................................................................................................2
Markets and brand position........................................................................................................3
Market segmentation..............................................................................................................3
Brand attributes......................................................................................................................3
Other sources of income.............................................................................................................3
Possible sponsor types................................................................................................................4
Sponsor proposal........................................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Australia open tennis tournament is world’s major tennis championship. The tournament is
held at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. In this report a sponsorship plan and
proposal is prepared. Being an event manager I have conducted an audit of the event. The
tournament is permanently settled at Melbourne Park. The Australians often dominate the
field of tennis internationally. The report includes the detail of Australian open tennis
tournament. The details include the goals and purpose of event. The social benefits have been
defined which arises from the event. The market and brand position have been cleared out.
The other sources of income generated from event have been discussed. Further the possible
sponsor types have been expressed. Finally the sponsor proposal has been developed to target
one possible sponsor. At last the recommendations and key findings have been given.
Details of Australia open tennis tournament
The Australian open tennis tournament is grand slam tournament of the year. It was started in
1905 by Lawn tennis association of Australia. The first tournament was held for men in 1905
and for women it was initiated in 1922. The tournament comprises of events for professional
players. This tournament held annually over the last fortnight of January. It is all about fun
and entertainment (Whiteside & Reid, 2017).
The goals of Australia open tennis are to determine state singles, double and team
championships. It is also the goal of Australian open to promote interest and provide
opportunity for extensive competition in tennis. The final goal is to promote highest
principles of nationality in interscholastic articles for tennis.
The vision of Australia open is to connect more people to tennis. Australia outlines strategic
vision for the future of sport. The vision summarises the key goals and methodologies for
achieving them (Close, Lacey & Cornwell, 2015). It is helpful in advancing the prospects of
tennis and facilitating partnership with state and territory member associations.
The purpose of tennis tournament is to encourage participant of tennis and unite under a
common rating language. Australian open tennis tournament is governed by the Tennis
Australia. The authority promotes tennis and conducts domestic and international tournament
on behalf of country including Australian open. The manual activities are present in the
stages of tennis. It identifies the phases of development like explore (4-7 years), develop (7-

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20 years), encourage (10-12 years), enhance (12-15 years), cultivate (15-17 years) and
performance (17+ years).
Community/ Social benefits
The Australian open is one of the most economically successful sports in the world. Tennis is
a remarkably social game. Tennis tournament generates a variety of social benefits. It puts
positive impact on individual, communities and society. The social benefits caused by tennis
tournament are:
 It helps to expand social circles and building networks. It brings people together for a
cause.
 Tennis helps to improve cognitive skills of society. It is a sport which involves a lot of
thinking and decision making. It encourages person to develop strategy and execute
before analysing (Thompson, Martin, Gee & Geurin, 2017).
 Tennis boosts mood as it releases a chemical known as Endorphins which is produced
by the central nervous system. It is a great stress reliever.
 The Australian open generates jobs and attracts millions of visitors which promotes
positive image on society.
 Tennis is suitable for people of all ages and skill levels. It also reduces stress in
society.
 A person can increase social skills as a result of interacting with each other. It has a
positive impact on society.
 It contributes to employment and creates full time jobs.
 It puts positive impact of sport on education and increases progression to higher
education (Turco, 2015).
 It provides access to research on the benefits of sports.
 It improves participation of young people and their numeracy scores.
 The tennis connect program was launched in 20014 aiming to improve understanding
of tennis playing community. This program offered financial reward to the
participating member associations, schools and coaches.

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Markets and brand position
Market segmentation
Market segmentation is an effective tool for the marketers to cater target group. In the market
segmentation process, the customers are divided into different groups and segments on the
basis of characteristics (Scheinbaum & Lacey, 2015). The customers are segmented on the
basis of age, gender etc. The segmentation helps to enhances profit for business and improve
customer service. It is an extension of market research which seeks to identify target groups
of consumers to brand in such a way which can attracts to a group. It helps company to
increase efficiency by focusing on it’s resources which can produce the best return on
investment.
The market is segmented by Australian open tennis tournament on the basis of all tennis
enthusiasts. The target group is both males and females in the age group 15-60. It has been
observed that one-third of Australian aged 14 or older like to watch Australian open always
or occasionally. The tennis tournament is particularly popular among people aged 50 or older.
The younger Australians show a lack of interest in watching Australian open on TV,
specifically 14-17 years old (20.2%) and 18-24 years (21.8%) (Morgan, 2017).
Brand attributes
The brand attribute is also known as core values. It represents the essence of brand. It is a set
of characteristics which identifies the physical and character traits of a brand. It makes up the
personality of business. A company wants to promote brand, need to establish creditability
and trust with the target audience. Things which help to identify brand attributes are proper
positioning, delivering benefit to customer desire, inconsistency, perception of value and
appropriate marketing activities to build equity (Close & Lacey, 2014).
The Australian open has advanced from a sporting event into a large festival. It takes over
the Melbourne each year. The Australian open tennis tournament has grown via events,
content rights, brand sponsorships, strategic partnerships and licensing. Branding attributes
serves both individuals and clients locally and internationally. Australian open regenerated
brand by taking A and O as constituents for a new visual identity (Gescheit, et.al. 2017). The
initials are used as geometric symbols and convey energy and motion. The flexibility of
visual system makes it possible to adapt a variety of applications from digital to social media
to tickets and products. The brand attributes engage audiences and makes the world to
accessible to tennis anytime.

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Other sources of income
Australian open is one of the major sport events. Tennis is not restrained to a particular
geographic or demographic area. The other sources of income are:
Ticket sales: Australian open marked attendance of over 703,000 viewers in 2015 (Quora,
2017). These tickets cost thousands of dollars depending on participants and depth of
tournament. The instant matches which involve exclusive players like Federer, Djokovic and
Nadal are tending to be more expensive. The finals and semi-final match tickets are also tend
to be more expensive.
Sponsors: Australian open has national as well as international presence so it is sponsored by
all the famous companies. is sponsored by brands like Rolex, ANZ, Kia motors, Longines
and more. It is an effective way to reach masses. The main sponsoring industries are motors,
fashion, banking and more.
Auctioning broadcast rights: Most of the audience is connected by the means of television.
The broadcast rights are reserved by the tennis authority. This authority sells rights to the
various sports channels for the telecast coverage. The sports channels are ESPN, Eurosport,
Star sports and more (Walraven, Bijmolt & Koning, 2014).
Advertisement: Advertisement is a major source of income for the television channels. Time
slots are allotted for the particular advertisement. An amount is paid to the advertiser for the
duration and frequency of the advertisement.
Merchandises: Australia open generates income by various merchandise like designed towel,
tee shirts, caps, racquets and clothing. The company recorded revenue of $174 million in
2012 which reached to $185 million in the fiscal year of 2012-2013 (Quora, 2017).

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Possible sponsor types
Australian open tennis tournament has long list of sponsors. Some of them are Kia, Rolex,
ANZ, Toshiba, Seven, Lavazza, CPA Australia, Emirates and Barilla.
Sponsor Rationale
ANZ ANZ is thrilled to support Australian open.
ANZ participates in match as it offers many
opportunities to staff and customers through
participation. ANZ supports Australian open
to reflect it’s brand value.
Kia Kia is sponsoring Australian open since 2002
now it has further extended contract till 2022.
The motor company plays important role in
supporting players and promoting growth of
tennis. Kia supplied 130 vehicles to 250
drivers for the 20,000 trips (Kia, 2018).
Seven Seven has expanded program of Australian
open and lifted sponsorship and advertising
revenue 10% to 12%. According to a report
in 2017, Seven started selling packages of
Australian open in last April rather than
September (Adnews, 2018).
Rolex Rolex started sponsoring Australian open in
2008 and extended contract till 2027. The
products of Rolex will be highly visible
around the venues and during the
tournament. The players also take part in the
promotional duties of company. Federer is
the highest profile and is ambassador.
Toshiba Toshiba is proud to be sponsor of Australian
open. It supplies printer products and
services for Australian open tennis
tournament. During matches, Toshiba install
additional machines and also assigns

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additional technicians to make sure that
everything runs smooth in the event. The
company provides solid solution for the
technology infrastructure.
CPA Australia CPA Australia is pleased to be part of
Australian open. CPA Australia provides
extensive global broadcast and digital reach.
The company is involved in various
associated activities that enables to grow
brand presence in the market and supports the
generation of talent.
Sponsor proposal
ANZ is official bank of Australian open. The event offers opportunity to support staff and
customers to participate. The bank considers that it has made the most significant investment
in tennis to date. The proposal of ANZ includes:
Vision: It is the vision of ANZ to broadcast region of 250 million through tennis. It is the
significant reach of brand made on the basis of investment. The vision of Australian open
tennis tournament is to connect more people to tennis (Jensen, Cobbs & Turner, 2016).
Success to date: The partnership is done with Victoria University to adopt a mathematical
approach to determine the players which are best players. Three steps are linked with the
success of Australian open. Work wake up the ranks, in this step relative skill level of players
is calculated. Some mathematical principles are applied to tennis. It is a reflection of player’s
relative standing with the game. The second step is start winning gram slam matches. The
understanding of path is sharpening that most winners have practised (Bruhn & Holzer,
2015). The final step is to develop a winning track record. There are some important contexts
which are needed to be considered.
Audience/Market information: The demographics include Australians aged 14 or older watch
Australian open occasionally. It is mainly popular among people over the age of 50. The
purchasing behaviour of customers is influenced by the social media. It also breaks the
communication which is presented in the advertising channels (Ko, Chang, Park & Herbst,

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2017). Some viewers like to watch Australian open on the app whereas some like to watch
live. The open Australia is conducted in Melbourne.
Potential benefits: ANZ provides additional support to Australian open. ANZ has provided
benefit by a starter program for the fast growing children. It has started ANZ tennis hot shots.
It has become one of the most popular sports program in the primary schools in Australia. It
can create employment by providing opportunity to staff and customers (Grohs, 2016).
Call for action: ANZ is a recognised brand of Australia and is beneficial for the Australian
open. The sponsoring company has extended partnership of 2014 for the next five years.
Conclusion
In the above report, detail of Australian open tennis tournament is given. It included the
introduction and purpose of event including goals and long term vision. The benefit of event
on society is described. Further the brand positioning of Australian open is explained. The
brand positioning included the market segmentation and brand attributes. Other sources of
income that Australian open can seek are defined. Finally the sponsor types and sponsor
proposal by ANZ have been discussed. From the above report, it is recommended that
Australian open can generate more sources of income to gain more profits. The contract can
be made with more sponsors to attain potential benefits to the event.

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References
Adnews, (2018). Seven smashes Australian Open revenue record as brands flock to
addressable ads. Retrieved on 15 May, 2018 from
http://www.adnews.com.au/news/seven-smashes-australian-open-revenue-record-as-
brands-flock-to-addressable-ads .
Bruhn, M., & Holzer, M. (2015). The role of the fit construct and sponsorship portfolio size
for event sponsorship success: a field study. European Journal of Marketing, 49(5/6),
874-893.
Close, A. G., & Lacey, R. (2014). How the anticipation can be as great as the experience:
Explaining event sponsorship exhibit outcomes via affective forecasting. Journal of
Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 35(2), 209-224.
Close, A. G., Lacey, R., & Cornwell, T. B. (2015). Visual Processing and Need for Cognition
Can Enhance Event-Sponsorship Outcomes: How Sporting Event Sponsorships
Benefit From the Way Attendees Process Them. Journal of Advertising
Research, 55(2), 206-215.
Gescheit, D. T., Cormack, S. J., Duffield, R., Kovalchik, S., Wood, T. O., Omizzolo, M., &
Reid, M. (2017). Injury epidemiology of tennis players at the 2011–2016 Australian
Open Grand Slam. Br J Sports Med, 51(17), 1289-1294.
Grohs, R. (2016). Drivers of brand image improvement in sports-event
sponsorship. International Journal of Advertising, 35(3), 391-420.
Jensen, J. A., Cobbs, J. B., & Turner, B. A. (2016). Evaluating sponsorship through the lens
of the resource-based view: The potential for sustained competitive
advantage. Business Horizons, 59(2), 163-173.
Kia, (2018). Australian Open. Retrieved on 15 May, 2018 from
https://www.kia.com/au/experience/sponsorship/australian-open.html
Ko, Y. J., Chang, Y., Park, C., & Herbst, F. (2017). Determinants of consumer attitude
toward corporate sponsors: A comparison between a profit and nonprofit sport event
sponsorship. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 16(2), 176-186.

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Morgan R., (2017). Australian Open tennis viewers a different breed to Aussies who play
tennis. Retrieved on 15 May, 2018 from
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/7108-australian-open-viewers-different-
breed-to-aussies-who-play-tennis-201701121250
Quora,( 2017). What is the source of fund for tennis grand slam events? Who plays the
whopping prize money in each grand slam? Retrieved on 15 May, 2018 from
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-source-of-fund-for-tennis-grand-slam-events-
Who-pays-the-whopping-prize-money-in-each-grand-slam
Scheinbaum, A. C., & Lacey, R. (2015). Event social responsibility: A note to improve
outcomes for sponsors and events. Journal of business research, 68(9), 1982-1986.
Thompson, A. J., Martin, A. J., Gee, S., & Geurin, A. N. (2017). Fans’ perceptions of
professional tennis events’ social media presence: Interaction, insight, and brand
anthropomorphism. Communication & Sport, 5(5), 579-603.
Turco, D. M. (2015). The influence of sponsorship on product recall and image among sport
spectators. In Proceedings of the 1995 World Marketing Congress (pp. 8-12).
Springer, Cham.
Walraven, M., Bijmolt, T. H., & Koning, R. H. (2014). Dynamic effects of sponsoring: How
sponsorship awareness develops over time. Journal of advertising, 43(2), 142-154.
Whiteside, D., & Reid, M. (2017). External match workloads during the first week of
Australian Open tennis competition. International journal of sports physiology and
performance, 12(6), 756-763.