“12 euros for a quarter-final in an ATP”

Objectif Gard: Why did you want to bring tennis back to the Nîmes arenas?

Vincent Bastide : Sport and health are subjects that are naturally linked. Red Bull, whose core business does not involve sports, has gained global notoriety through sports. In health, no one has ever taken such an initiative. For us, it’s gratifying because we have been so branded as a company dedicated to aging that I wanted to go against this image that stuck to us. I have an affinity for tennis, because I played it young for ten years. At the same time, I had the chance to build very close friendships with the former player Jérémy Chardy who introduced me to Patrick Mouratoglou, founder of the UTS. It’s an alignment of the planets. I thought it was a shame that the arenas no longer offered tennis. I discussed it with many people from Nîmes, they wanted it to come back into fashion. And this is the case with very professional people.

As a Nîmes resident, have you ever attended a match in the arena?

Yes, I went to see the Philips Trophy. I must have been 15 at the time. I was in total admiration of John McEnroe, for me he was a star. If someone had told me at 15 that 40 years later, I would have been able to support a project like this, I would never have believed it. Afterwards, I am not in the process of fulfilling a personal dream. My person must come after the interests of the group. I went for sailing, football, rugby and even handball and I don’t practice those sports, I don’t know them well. But for all that, I did it, because if it can have a beneficial effect for the group, I’m going for it.

Besides, many people from Nîmes are wondering why you are not buying Nîmes Olympique?

I might be able to get interested in football or another sport. Because when you get involved in a sporting activity, you understand its subtleties and mechanisms. And it can be exciting. Mohed Altrad knew nothing about rugby before arriving in Montpellier. It is not an insurmountable obstacle but it must be done with a goal behind it. In football, I don’t see any objective. The resources allocated to achieve a very good result are such that it requires far too much time and financial resources for my group through the benefits that I could potentially derive from it. Especially given the difficulties this can cause. We see that there is still a big problem with supporters’ clubs. Finally, concerning the structure of Nîmes Olympique, everything is not resolved in relation to the shareholder Rani Assaf. So, as a result, it is a subject that is much more complex than tennis where we start from a blank sheet.

“More than 6,000 spectators per day… a completely acceptable level”

There were fewer risks by supporting a tennis tournament…

In this project, even if we are one of the main partners, it is still Patrick Mouratoglou who bears the risk on the overall cost of this event. Moreover, the amount of one million dollars in prize money is not assumed by Bastide Médical. Initially, they suggested that we launch into this project as partners. As I did not have hindsight on the probability of success of the event, I did not want to take an inconsiderate risk. For the first year, I prefer to be lead partner and allocate a fixed amount. Next year, if it goes well, maybe I will ask Patrick to partner with him in the future. If we have more than 6,000 spectators per day, we will be on a completely acceptable level.

Was it complicated to convince the city of Nîmes?

We had to convince the town hall to follow us in this adventure because it is a budget for them (250,000 euros). And convince of the return on investment. With the UTS teams, we did a lot of educational work to explain to them that the media impact, I hope, will be much greater than the cost that the city was able to incur in the event. In addition, it is the only event in France of this type.

And the players?

There is the geographical proximity of their place of activity at that time. The strength of this tournament is that it takes place before Monte-Carlo. At the same time, there are two ATP tournaments in the United States and Marrakech, but which generate few points. And then out of a million dollars in prize money including 300,000 for the winner, this means that the other participants have around 100,000 dollars each. If you take the ATP 250 in Montpellier, it’s $110,000 in prize money for the winner.

“You will never have prices of 12 euros for a quarter-final in an ATP”

And then this type of tournament is also revolutionizing the world of tennis, isn’t it?

It destabilized me a little when Patrick presented me with the project and the rules. The arguments he raises are so objective, certainly some conservatives will say that it is not tennis. But the observation is that in a tennis match, the game part only represents 30%. We waste a lot of time. There, everything is compressed to the maximum with a match that lasts 45 minutes in eight-minute increments and a single service ball. There is more spectacle with elements from the NBA. On a particular issue, music can intervene in the point. We are going to dramatize the game a little. Counting points is very simple and makes it more accessible to everyone.

With affordable prices?

The first prizes for places in the quarter-final cost 12 euros. You will never have prices of 12 euros for a quarter-final in an ATP. It’s more expensive. So, we manage to have prices that are more competitive. Here again, to be able to democratize access to all.

Among the four remaining names, who should we expect?

Of the four remaining names, three have already been recorded. There is a top 20 and two top 10. In any case, a player like Alexander Zverev (3rd in the world) really illustrates this project. He is diabetic and plays with a pump he has under his jersey. This is exactly the type of system that we put in place for our patients. This shows that you can have a chronic illness and be a high-performance athlete. I would have liked him to participate in the tournament. He may be one of the last players to convince. I don’t know, we’ll see.