MP & Silva Sign 5-Year Distribution Rights to French Open

June 2, 2011

MP & Silva has reached a five-year agreement to snap up the European broadcast distribution rights to the French Open International Tennis Championships at Roland Garros, with this year’s competition in full swing.

The international sports media agency will replace the European Broadcasting Union starting from the 2012 edition of the event and running through until 2016. According to MP & Silva, the contract, signed with Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT), marks a “new distribution strategy”.

The new approach will see the agency undertake an individual territory-by-territory distribution strategy in key territories across Europe in a market-by-market approach which has proved successful by other top-tier rights properties such as Wimbledon and UEFA Euro 2008.

MP & Silva CEO Andrea Radrizzani stated: “Roland Garros is one of the most important international sporting events in the world and we are extremely honoured to be given this opportunity to work closely with the FFT. We believe that this is a historical moment for Roland Garros.

“Now is the perfect time to engage more fully with the key markets of Europe and to examine new opportunities. At the same time, our strategy envisages working with some of the federation’s long-term incumbent partners, so we are offering continuity, as well as change. We believe that together, we will significantly enhance the positioning and value of Roland Garros.”

Michel Grach, the FFT’s media and sponsorship director, added: “We are committed to constant innovation and evolution to ensure the best quality coverage for tennis fans across Europe. We believe that our partnership with MP & Silva will allow us a more flexible commercial approach in selecting the most appropriate media partners in each market and this will enable us to make sure that tennis fans across Europe can get the widest, the most in-depth and the highest quality coverage of such an exciting event.”