"YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!" MCENROE LAUNCHES EUROSPORT'S COVERAGE OF THE US OPEN

The seven-time Grand Slam winner, who won the US Open four times in a glittering career, will be an expert pundit for Eurosport at the final Grand Slam of the year in New York which starts on Monday 28 August.

The first advert sees John McEnroe sitting in JP’s Barber Shop in Brooklyn, New York in the hope of doing “something special” for the US Open. In the hilarious sketch, and after trying out several ‘new’ hair styles, he eventually settles on a look akin to the John McEnroe bubble perm as worn by the man himself in the late 1970s - complete with a red head sweat band!

The sequel shows McEnroe in the waiting area of the same barber shop in New York watching tennis on his mobile phone before a friend enquires what he is doing. Puzzled, the friend cannot believe he is watching live tennis on-the-go. McEnroe responds by explaining it is now possible to watch Eurosport’s live tennis coverage on television or online and via tablet and mobile devices on the Eurosport Player.

Antonio Ruiz, Vice President Marketing at Eurosport, said: “We wanted to create an advert that captured the fun, exuberant side of New York and there is no better man for the job than John McEnroe. He understands the city and its people as well as the tournament’s history.

“We have created two different ads featuring John that are connected from a storytelling point of view, acting one as the prequel of the other. One introduces the US Open 2017 to tennis fans, and the other one builds on the Eurosport Player user experience and its unique offer for the event. It was fun shooting with John and a great way to kick-off our coverage of the US Open.”   

Legends of the sport will go head-to-head again at Flushing Meadows with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal strong favourites to add to their history-making careers in the men’s draw. Amongst the women Garbine Muguruza will be looking to add to another Grand Slam title to her collection following her win at Wimbledon and Romania’s Simona Halep will be desperate to win her first Slam while also chasing the #1 world ranking.   

Eurosport will broadcast 250 hours of live coverage from the Flushing Meadows live and exclusive across Europe (non-exclusive in Austria, Czech Republic, Luxembourg and Switzerland) on linear, Eurosport Player and Eurosport.com. In addition to 12 localised versions produced for linear channels, including feeds for the UK, Spain, Italy, France Germany and Romania, every point from all courts and all matches will be available on Eurosport Player.

McEnroe is joined in New York by an all-star list of analysts and commentators working for Eurosport during the US Open headed by Boris Becker, Mats Wilander, Barbara Schett, Alex Corretja and Conchita Martinez.

Wilander and Schett will present Eurosport’s flagship show – Game, Schett & Mats – during the tournament with all the latest news, previews and interviews from the fourth and final Grand Slam on the calendar.

Patrick Mouratoglou, the super-coach who has guided Serena Williams throughout her incredible career, will once again be The Coach, offering fans a unique insight into player strategies and match trends using augmented reality.

It has already been a bumper year for Eurosport’s tennis coverage with record numbers tuning in for each Grand Slam in 2017. Eurosport’s coverage of the Australian Open final between tennis legends Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal reached 20.7 million** sport fans across Europe to become the second most watched sport event in the broadcaster’s history. 

In June, Eurosport also announced it had recorded year-on-year growth of 18% for its TV coverage of this year’s Roland Garros with huge audience increases reported in Denmark (+123%), Spain (+60%) and Romania (47%).

ENDS.

Notes to Editors

*Filming for the two promotional videos took place at JP’s Barber Shop in Brooklyn, New York where it has been under current ownership for 47 years. Spike Lee shot one his first films at JP’s Barbers.

Written and Directed by: Guillaume Mouille.

Production: FIAT LUX / Starteam

Music: New York Groove by Kiss

** Including Eurosport and Discovery-owned free-to-air channel, DMAX, in Spain.