ANZ serves new-look Aus Open sponsorship after public exit
ANZ Bank will make a return to the Australian Open court, reversing its public decision to part ways with the sporting event.
The exit was first reported less than a week after the last game of the 2022 Australian Open, with an ANZ spokesperson telling The Age: “Our existing partnership with Tennis Australia has come to an end following what turned out to be an incredible and historic tournament.”
According to reports from the AFR, ANZ signed back up to the Australian Open in March, less than eight weeks after its initial exit.
The new deal comes in at a lower cost than before, cutting funding for the ‘Hot Shots’ school children’s tennis program and focusing instead on a three-year deal focusing on corporate hospitality and entertaining clients.
It will include virtual signage that will appear on court during coverage, but unlike the back wall signage installed at Melbourne Park under the former partnership, will not be a permanent fixture.
In a statement sent to Mumbrella, a spokesperson for the bank said it was “pleased to continue its valuable partnership with Tennis Australia as Official Bank of the Australian Open”.
“The new agreement focuses on creating opportunities to engage with our customers at one of Australia’s most preeminent events, the Australian Open,” the statement continued.
“As Australia’s leading Institutional bank, we are looking forward to welcoming our customers and partners back to the Australian Open.”
Tennis Australia will continue the search for a new sponsor for its Tennis Hot Shots program, which ANZ had sponsored since 2014.
In November Nine secured the rights to the Australian Open broadcast for another 5 years in a multi-million dollar extension to its existing deal, giving Nine rights to all premium tennis played in Australia from 2025 to 2029.
Nine CEO, Mike Sneesby, was pleased to announce the extended rights, noting that Tennis attracted “both a broad and very passionate following and is a perfect fit with Nine’s schedule, audiences and advertisers.”
“The Australian Open has delivered some of Australia’s most iconic sporting moments and largest television audiences and together, we are committed to bringing these great moments to all Australians live and free,” he continued.
ANZ’s revised partnership comes two days after KIA announced an extension to its Australian open partnership until 2028.
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