The 2011 BNP Paribas Open in March brought $289.9 million into the economy of the Coachella Valley, according to a George Washington University report. That's $188 million more than the 2001 event, when the economic impact report for the event was first compiled, and $70 million more than the 2006 event, the most recent year for which data was compiled.

Also, attendance for the most-attended tennis tournament in the world other than the Grand Slams grew from 270,453 people in 2006 to 350,086 people this year. On average each person attended the event 3.08 days, resulting in 113,664 unique spectators. Of those, 84% came from out of town. Reasons cited for such growth at the two-week ATP-WTA combined event were fan experience, staff and a significantly increased marketing budget.

Next year's BNP Paribas Open is scheduled for March 5-18. Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki are the defending champions. Women's-only tennis events sponsored by BNP Paribas include the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships, the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open and Fed Cup.

BNP Paribas has one of the largest international financial services networks, with operations in 80 countries and over 200,000 employees in Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.