The countdown has begun for the Catalan capital to celebrate a new edition of the Conde de Godó tournament, the biggest non-football related sporting and social event hosted by the city. After the date for the 2023 trophy celebration was set for the third week of April before the summer, in recent months the organization has focused on renewing the main sponsorships and incorporating new sponsors to ensure the necessary economic resources for an edition that will be especially emblematic, as the tournament will celebrate its 70th anniversary. The grand final will take place on April 23, coinciding with Sant Jordi's day.
According to sources familiar with the negotiation, Banco Sabadell signed the contract a few days ago to renew for three more years as the main sponsor of the Conde de Godó competition, thus accumulating 16 consecutive years in this role and, consequently, placing its brand in the official name of the tournament since 2008: Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell - Trofeo Conde de Godó. It is estimated that the bank contributes around one million euros per year to the tournament's coffers. The Barcelona City Council is the second major patron, with more than 800,000 euros. In total, sponsors cover around 50% of Godó's income, which this year also had other companies such as Emirates, Orange, Mapfre, Cepsa, Estrella Damm, Dunlop, Isdin or Cupra as sponsors.
The Real Club de Tenis de Barcelona, owner of the trophy, and Tennium, the company managing the competition, have reinforced this pool of sponsors with the signing of Mango, with whom they have signed a three-year agreement, that is, also valid until 2025. According to the club, Mango becomes the new "technical sponsor" of the tournament, which means that it will be responsible for dressing all Godó staff, including all ball boys, line judges and chair judges who participate in it and are present on the playing courts. Mango will also dress all members of the organization, replacing Lacoste.
In parallel, the Barcelona-based fashion company will be responsible for developing the first line of merchandising for the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. Specifically, the firm chaired by Isak Andic will design and produce a collection of fashion garments and accessories for the sporting event, which will be distributed in the official store during the tournament.
"Mango is a company born in Barcelona with strong ties to its hometown that we want to continue strengthening with agreements like the one we have just signed with the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899", highlights Toni Ruiz, CEO of the group, who emphasizes the textile company's desire to strengthen ties with the Catalan capital and support the activities carried out in different areas. "At Mango, we identify with the values of tennis and with those of an event with such a long history and tradition as the Godó, a social, economic and cultural meeting point in Barcelona", adds Ruiz, who recalls that the company already collaborated with the tournament between 2011 and 2013.
For his part, Xavier Pujol, CEO of Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, considers that Mango "is a strategic sponsor" with whom they share "the same vision and ambition to increase the dissemination of the city and the tournament around the world".
It so happens that the last winner of the Conde de Godó, on April 24, was Carlos Alcaraz, who when he played the competition started, a priori, as the fifth favorite of the tournament and who today, only five months later, already occupies number 1 in the ATP ranking.
This year, the great absentee was Rafa Nadal (current number 2) and Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas did participate, now in third and sixth position in the ranking, respectively. Will all of them repeat in 2023? This is the great challenge that the organization now faces, which must deal with a tight tennis calendar after the Madrid Masters 1.000 has increased its duration to twelve days, forcing the Estoril and Munich tournaments to change dates. Thus, before the Godó, the Monte Carlo Masters 1.000 will be played, as always, but the Barcelona tournament will coincide this time with those of Munich and Belgrade; the Estoril competition has been moved to the first week of April.