Kia, Tennis Australia poised to ink record $100m sponsorship deal
Kia is on the verge of confirming the biggest sponsorships in Australian sport — a $100m deal for the Australian Open rights.
Tennis Australia is on the verge of signing the biggest sponsorship deal in Australian sport — worth as much as $100m over five years with Kia.
Considered one of the jewels in the crown of Melbourne’s sporting calendar, the Australian Open this year is rolling out a big welcome for Novak Djokovic, the controversial superstar exiled last year, with tempestuous local Nick Kyrgios in tow.
Kia has sponsored the Australian Open since 2002 and its latest agreement – worth up to $20m a year – is set to beat sport’s reigning top deal: Toyota’s AFL sponsorship worth $18.5m annually.
An announcement as early as today could involve Kia ambassador and defending men’s champion Rafael Nadal and would cement the grand slam as one of the best commercial properties in Australia.
The new deal will help Tennis Australia begin repairing a balance sheet smashed by Covid-19, which disrupted the past two Australian Opens. In 2021, Tennis Australia was forced to spend $80m it had previously kept in reserve, when it lost $100m and was forced to take out a $40m loan to offset huge biosecurity costs for a tournament that was played before small audiences.
Making history is no easy feat.
— Kia Australia (@kiaaustralia) January 30, 2022
Congratulations @RafaelNadal on your #AusOpen win, and for achieving a world first 21 Grand Slam titles.
Last night’s game truly was #MovementThatInspires. pic.twitter.com/Eq4UnERUHN
Its recovery began last year, when bigger crowds and television revenue helped it eke out a $4.6m net profit from $505m revenue according to documents recently lodged with the corporate regulator. However, that result was achieved only after Tennis Australia received $20m in government grants.
Tennis Australia will get a further financial boost from next year after it recently signed a record five-year $500m cash and contra broadcast deal with Nine Entertainment through to 2029.
The Australian Open is a global event for its commercial partners, and it has broadcast deals with American sports cable network ESPN and Europort. It represents great exposure and opportunity for the South Korean car manufacturer to sell cars in North America, Europe and Asia.
The Australian Open‘s other major sponsorship deal, with Chinese liquor brand Luzhou Laojiao, is also up for renewal and is set to expire in June.
If representatives from the company travel to Australia for the tournament, it will be the first time since 2019 they have visited due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.
The Australian Open is projecting total crowds of 900,000 over three weeks including this week’s qualifying matches.
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