French Tennis Open to Be Presented in 3D Across Europe

PARIS: Eurosport is aligning with Panasonic and Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT) to bring live 3D coverage of the 2011 French Tennis Open, Roland Garros, to homes and retail stores across Europe.

The Roland Garros event will go out live in 3D to homes across Europe, excluding France. Panasonic and the FFT have also reupped their partnership to bring the coverage to retail stores across selected European territories, following on the success of the multi-day 3D broadcast of the 2010 tournament in European retail outlets.

The 2011 French Tennis Open will take place from May 22 to June 5. Distribution of Eurosport’s 3D French Open service will be carried out by selected operators across Europe. Swisscom in Switzerland and Canal Digital, operating in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, are just two of the featured partner operators announced so far.

Laurent Abadie, the chairman and CEO of Panasonic Europe, commented: “In the past year a wide range of 3D technology has become available; an increasing amount of content has been created; and new broadcast 3D channels have been launched—it is clear that 2011 is the year this revolutionary technology will become mainstream. We have worked closely with the FFT to ensure that in 2011, as many tennis fans as possible can recreate the thrilling experience of being at the tournament, in their homes in 3D.

“To make sure there is sufficient content available to meet consumers’ demands for high quality 3D programming, Panasonic is working in close partnership with Eurosport and broadcasters across the world. The French Tennis Open is a perfect example of how these partnerships can work to deliver exceptional content. We are the official suppliers for the tournament and our end-to-end 3D product suite will be showcased, from our 3D broadcast products to our state-of-the-art 3D VIERA screens, which will be on display across the site so visitors to the tournament can try out the 3D tennis experience.”

Laurent-Eric Le Lay, Eurosport’s chairman and CEO, added, "Eurosport is committed to providing fans with the best sports entertainment experience. Bringing the French Tennis Open live in 3D directly to consumers’ homes is the best way to demonstrate how the combination of compelling content and new technology greatly enhances sports viewing. We are delighted to renew our partnership with Panasonic and the Fédération Française de Tennis to make 3D sports viewing across Europe a mainstream reality."

Michel Grach, the media and sponsorship director for the Fédération Française de Tennis, said: “Roland Garros is one of the most historic international sporting events in the world. We are committed to constant innovation to make sure tennis fans across Europe can get the closest experience possible to actually being here in Paris to view this momentous event. From the extremely positive feedback about the 3D broadcast into retail stores last year, it is clear that 3D technology truly recreates the immersive experience of being court-side, on the television set. By working closely with expert technology partners such as Panasonic and Eurosport, we are delighted to be able to deliver this year’s tournament into consumers’ living rooms live in 3D and therefore allow people who cannot be court-side to feel the passion of such exciting event. It will add yet another dimension to what promises to be an incredible sporting event.”