BNP Paribas will continue to be the title sponsor of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament through at least 2018, it was announced Tuesday.
The sponsorship was officially renewed through the 2018 tournament, held annually at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, tournament director Steve Simon announced.
“We are thrilled to extend our partnership with BNP Paribas through 2018,” said Simon. “As the longest supporter of tennis worldwide, at both the professional and amateur levels, we feel very fortunate to have not only their brand on our tournament, but their belief and support of our goals to further continue our tradition of being the place to be in March.”
Michele Sicard, managing director of dead dorporate communications for BNP Paribas Americas, called the partnership a "fantastic fit."
"Throughout the past four years the event has seen exponential growth, and with our 40-year history of supporting tennis at all levels, we embrace partnering with Mr. Ellison and the tournament for another five years to make this event unquestionably one of the premier tournaments in the world," he said.
The organization took title sponsorship of the local tournament in 2009. This year's event is slated for March 4-17, and is the largest ATP World Tour and WTA combined two-week event in the world.
In 2012, more than 370,000 people attended the event in Indian Wells.
Just last week, plans for the expansion of the tennis garden venue were announced, with BNP Paribas at the helm.
According to organizers, other major sporting events that BNP Paribas sponsors include:
- Roland Garros (French Open)— official sponsor
- Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas— title sponsor
- ATP Masters 1000 tournament BNP Paribas Masters in Paris
- ATP Masters 1000 tournament Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome
- ATP Masters 1000 tournament Monte Carlo Rolex Masters
- Year-end WTA Championships (TEB BNP Paribas in Istanbul)
- "numerous other" ATP World Tour and WTA tournaments, exhibitions, amateur events and wheelchair tennis initiatives.
