Australian Open makes a play to compete with Melbourne Cup in the fashion stakes
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For years, the Australian Open has looked enviously at the Melbourne Cup carnival and realised it could not compete in one area – fashion.
Now the tennis tournament is attempting to make inroads by building a retail superstore the size of four tennis courts next to Rod Laver Arena and creating an Evonne Goolagong Cawley fashion range. On Tuesday it will also announce a multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal with US sports clothing brand New Balance.
US Open champion Coco Gauff, a New Balance ambassador, will play at the Australian Open in January.
The Melbourne Cup carnival has always boasted that its economic benefit to the state eclipses rival sporting events – partly because racegoers spend a small fortune dressing up.
In February, the Victoria Racing Club said the Cup carnival contributed “more than $3.6 billion in gross economic benefit to Victoria in the past decade, nearly $1 billion more than the Australian Open reported for the same period”, according to market research firm IER.
Evonne Goolagong Cawley on her way to winning the Open final against Chris Evert in 1974.
Victorians spent $51.9 million on fashion and grooming and bought 232,870 fashion items for the carnival last year, the club said.
Next year, the Open will attempt to redress the imbalance and has commissioned First Nations artist Lyn-Al Young to create a range of clothing to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Evonne Goolagong Cawley’s first Open title.
It will be sold at the AO Superstore, a shop that will sell 96 different caps and hats, as well as clothing from “official outfitter” Ralph Lauren and New Balance. The privately owned American company has never sponsored the US Open or any grand slam.
“The sponsorship of the Australian Open is a first-of-its-kind deal for New Balance in partnering with a grand slam, so an important milestone in our history,” said Evan Zeder, global director of sports marketing for New Balance Tennis and Baseball.
The company is hoping 19-year-old US Open champion Coco Gauff – who featured in a New York Times article about her tennis dress with prints of New York public tennis courts – will have a similar cultural impact here when she arrives for the Australian Open in January.
“Together with our athletes on court and cultural presence off it, we hope to grow the love of the sport globally and inspire the next generation of players – helping them reach the top of their game,” Zeder said.
Ralph Lauren supplies uniforms for ballboys and ballgirls at the Open
While Ralph Lauren Australian Open pullovers sell for $400, New Balance will sell graphic T-shirts starting from $30.
The terms of New Balance’s three-year sponsorship deal were undisclosed, but industry sources estimate the Open requires at least $1 million a year for a base-level sponsorship. Ralph Lauren, the official apparel outfitter, is estimated to pay about $6 million to $7 million, while Marriott hotels and insurance company Chubb pay in the region of $3 million a year. Major sponsor Kia is estimated to contribute about $20 million each year.
The Open has said that even in the pandemic-affected years of 2021 and 2022 its tournaments generated $405.3 million in economic benefit, citing a Nielsen Sports report. But the Victoria Racing Club said the Cup carnival generated $422.1 million in 2022 alone. Sources at Tennis Australia, which runs the Open, pointed out that figure included gambling revenue.
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