(NEWS) PARIS, France, 2026-Jun-2 — /Travel PR News/ — At Roland-Garros, the sport on court is only part of the story. Around the clay, the tournament also functions as a meeting point for global sport, hospitality, sponsorship and media — a place where tennis intersects with football, rugby, basketball, sailing and other major international disciplines.
That wider sporting ecosystem was on display as Emirates hosted a dedicated sports celebration during Roland-Garros 2026 in Paris, bringing together athletes, former players, tournament officials, club executives and journalists inside the airline’s hospitality spaces.
According to a press release published by Emirates, guests at the event included former Arsenal player Robert Pires, French tennis player Gaël Monfils, France rugby assistant coach William Servat, former AC Milan defender Massimo Oddo, former French rugby player Yoann Huget, former ATP player Julien Benneteau, Brazilian football figure Sonny Anderson and former NBA and French national team player Ronny Turiaf.
The event also brought together executives and representatives from major sports organisations and competitions, including World Rugby, AC Milan, Olympique Lyonnais, the ATP Tour, SailGP, European Professional Club Rugby, the All England Lawn Tennis Club and the France National Rugby Sevens Team. Roland-Garros Tournament Director Amélie Mauresmo and Rolex Paris Masters Tournament Director Cédric Pioline also attended.
For Emirates, the gathering highlighted the scale of its global sports sponsorship portfolio, which has grown significantly since the airline’s first sponsorship in 1987 at a powerboat race in Dubai. Today, the airline sponsors more than 187 teams, tournaments and events across tennis, football, rugby, basketball, cycling, golf, horse racing, cricket, sailing and Australian rules football.
At Roland-Garros, Emirates is using two hospitality spaces — the Emirates Lounge in the Hospitality Village and Salon Philippe-Chatrier — to host guests throughout the tournament. The airline’s hospitality programme includes premium dining, afternoon tea, Dom Pérignon champagne tasting and a caviar service, alongside views of matches on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The event reflects how major airlines increasingly use sports sponsorship not only for brand visibility, but also for customer engagement, corporate hospitality and international networking. Tennis, with its global calendar and high-value audience, remains especially attractive for airline sponsors seeking visibility across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas.
Roland-Garros also provides a platform where brands can connect with audiences beyond tennis alone. By hosting figures from football, rugby, basketball and sailing, Emirates positioned the Paris tournament as part of its wider sports engagement strategy rather than a single-event sponsorship.
As global sports partnerships become more integrated with luxury hospitality and fan experiences, events such as Roland-Garros increasingly serve as commercial and cultural meeting points for brands, athletes and international sport organisations.
