Fédération Française de Tennis, the governing body of tennis in France, has announced that it will launch a domestic tender for the next cycle of media rights to the French Open tournament on September 10.
The tender will cover the next five editions of the grand slam tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, from 2014 to 2018.
In April, Michel Grach, the federation’s director of media and partnerships, said that the event would continue to be primarily broadcast on terrestrial, free-to-air television in France beyond this year.
Public-service broadcaster France Télévisions was the rights-holder through to the conclusion of the 2013 edition of the competition 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.