Tennis Australia Drops Santos Sponsorship Just One Year In
Just one year into a multi-year partnership between fossil fuels company, Santos, and Tennis Australia, both parties have gone their separate ways. The Santos branding had been visible during the preliminary matches of the Australian Open but following political pressure and accusations of ‘sportswashing’, the sporting association decided to drop Santos as its sponsor and end the deal early.
The natural gas production facilities that are used around the world remain major polluters of the planet. With Tennis Australia’s dropping of Santos as a headline sponsor, they have shown how important the role of sport will be in resolving the climate emergency of this century. ©SatyaPrem/Pixabay
The exact motivation behind the decision to dump Santos as the official sponsor of Tennis Australia are unclear, due to both sides staying silent on the termination. We know that the relationship began in February 2021 with Tennis Australia announcing Santos as the Official Natural Gas Partner of the Australian Open. The huge viewership of the Tennis Australia headline event, the Australian Open, would have provided sponsors with an enormous platform to launch their campaigns from.
Santos had promoted themselves under a campaign of how natural gas connects elements of everyday life and wanted to show their dedication to supporting tennis at a grassroots level. The company’s branding was widely visible throughout the first few weeks of the Australian Open and they had sought to convey the major benefit that Santos, and the broader natural gas industry has on providing jobs into the economy.
This ethos was exemplified in no clearer way than the catchphrase which began to appear, ‘fuelled by Santos’, all around the Australian Open venues.
But clearly, this campaign had fallen short of convincing the key stakeholders at the Australian Open that this collaboration was in alignment with their core values. Rigorous opposition to the commercial deal had been gathering momentum, and climate protection advocates had been questioning the ethics of the sponsorship. As such, and without providing any extensive detail, Tennis Australia has ended the partnership with Santos.
Tennis Among the Sports Uniquely Affected by Climate Change
The fact that remains throughout all of this is that tennis is a sport uniquely affected by the adversity of climate change. It is a sport that has had to postpone, and delay matches on many occasions in the past due to soaring temperatures deemed unsafe for the games to commence. An incident back in 2014 at the Australian Open saw over 1,000 spectators treated for heat exhaustion when the courtside temperature rose above 40C.
Another aspect of this sponsorship that didn’t feel like a balanced partnership is the fact that Tennis Australia is a member of the UN Sports for Climate Action framework. The organization seeks to use the ‘soft power’ of sport’s largest organizations to apply pressure and influence on policies that advance the cause of green climate initiatives. Given the context, it’s unsurprising that the deal had attracted a massive backlash from the wider public.
A social media campaign designed to pressure the organizers of the sponsorship agreement had seen an online petition received over 7,000 signatures. The athletes involved in the sport have also been voicing their concerns, and over 300 professional athletes have signed up to unifying campaigns designed to prevent sports highest level from becoming exploited by climate-damaging corporations to sweeten their brand image.
Just like cigarette companies had been kicked out of high-profile sporting events just over a decade ago, big energy companies not seeking to switch to cleaner solutions will be dealt with a similar fate. It may never be revealed why Tennis Australia ended its sponsorship collaboration with Santos. But this is neither here nor there for campaigners, and they have commended the sporting body for taking the decisive action.
Given the climate problems embroiling Australia, the bush fires, and soaring summer temperatures, this multi-year deal was quickly seen as untenable. As the green climate advocacy movement grows stronger, it is becoming clear that sport will play an integral role in influencing broader public opinion on the issues that are crucial to the planet’s survival.
