National Bank has become the new title sponsor of what used to be known as the Rogers Cup.

The tournament will now be called the National Bank Open presented by Rogers. The men’s tournament is scheduled for Aug. 7-15 in Toronto, with the women’s tournament taking place from Aug. 6-15 in Montreal.

Rogers had been the title sponsor of the women’s and men’s events since 2001 and 2005, respectively. National Bank has been the presenting sponsor of the tournament in Montreal since 2005 and in Toronto since 2010.

The new name is part of a 10-year corporate sponsorship deal between National Bank and Tennis Canada, which is considered to be the longest in the history of tennis in Canada. For Rogers, the telco brand will be the presenting sponsor for the tournaments in Montreal and Toronto for the next seven years.

There are plans to roll out a full marketing campaign to support the tournament in the months ahead, including television spots, paid digital and social and OOH. “We are currently looking at different ways to be present during the Open, in a physical [and] digital way,” says Marie-Pierre Jodoin, senior manager of public affairs and CSR at National Bank.

Tennis has been a major fixture of National Bank’s sponsorship strategy, and will also continue be the main sponsor of lower tier events on the professional tennis circuit. This year’s Calgary National Bank Challenger men’s event was scheduled to take place this month, but postponed due to the pandemic.

Tennis Canada and Sportsnet also announced a multi-year domestic media rights extension. National cross-court coverage will air across Sportsnet’s TV platforms and stream live on SN Now.

The 2020 Rogers Cup was cancelled due to the pandemic, but in 2019, the Rogers Cup women’s final alone – between Bianca Andreescu and Serena Williams – brought an average minute audience of 594,000 on Sportsnet’s broadcast.