Fédération Française de Tennis, the governing body of tennis in France, has launched a domestic tender split into three separate packages for the next cycle of media rights to the French Open tournament.
The tender will cover the next five editions of the grand slam tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, from 2014 to 2018.
Unlike the tender for the previous rights cycle, the FFT has elected to make available separate rights packages available for mobile, free-to-air television and all broadcasters, potentially allowing pay-television broadcasters to enter bids.
French newspaper Le Figaro said that the federation would make a decision in late October.
Public-service broadcaster France Télévisions was the rights-holder through to the conclusion of the 2013 edition of the French Open in June, paying a rights fee of €15.5m ($20.5m) per year. France Télévisions also sublicensed some rights to pay-television broadcaster Eurosport.
The finals of the men’s and women’s singles competitions must be broadcast on free-to-air television in France under listed events legislation. France Télévisions has broadcast the tournament since 1987.