Dieux du Stade: Difference between revisions

Dieux du Stade (transl. 'Gods of the Stadium', stylized as Dievx Dv Stade) is a nude calendar produced by Stade Français, a French professional rugby union based in Paris. Conceived by club president Max Guazzini as a marketing initiative to promote the club and shift the image of rugby players, the calendar features nude and semi-nude photography of the club's members and other sportsmen, occasionally in a homoerotic context. The calendar was first published in 2001, and most recently in 2020. At its peak Dieux du Stade sold approximately 180,000 copies annually, and has sold approximately 1.6 million total copies as of 2019.

History

Dieux du Stade was conceived by Max Guazzini, who served as president of Stade Français from 1992 to 2011. A former president of the NRJ Group, Dieux du Stade was one of a number of marketing initiatives by Guazzini aimed at both promoting the club and changing the image of rugby as a sport; other tactics included introducing pink uniforms for Stade Français, and hiring Madonna and Naomi Campbell to be official sponsors for the club ^[1]

The first Dieux du Stade calendar was released in 2001.^[2] It features nude and semi-nude photographs of Stade Français' players, occasionally in homoerotic scenarios,^[3] though later editions of the calendar expanded beyond Stade Français to feature male athletes from other clubs and sports.^[4][5] The photographer for each edition of Dieux du Stade varies; individuals who have shot the calendar include Steven Klein, Peter Lindbergh, Tony Duran, and François Rousseau.^[6][7] Photographs included in Dieux du Stade have also been published as coffee table books.^[2]

Dieux du Stade expanded significantly in popularity in 2004, following the release of behind-the-scenes footage on DVD that accompanied editions of the calendar.^[3] At its peak Dieux du Stade sold approximately 180,000 copies per year,^[1] and earned up to €2.3 million annually for Stade Français.^[3] By 2019, an estimated 1.6 million copies of Dieux du Stade calendars had been sold.^[3] A portion of the profits for some editions of the calendar were donated to charity, while Stade Français received approximately 50 percent of the calendar's sale price (€29 in 2019).^[1] According to Guazzini, sales from Dieux du Stade "helped finance the club for many years".^[1]

The calendar has occasionally attracted criticism and controversy. Racing 92 attempted to have photographs of player Henry Chavancy removed from the 2012 edition of the calendar days before it was slated to be released, calling it a "slight on Racing's image" and claiming that Chavancy had not sought authorization from club management; the calendar was ultimately published without redactions.^[8][9] A frontal nude image of mixed martial arts fighter Sylvain Potard in the 2016 edition of the calendar received significant media attention in France due to the large size of Potard's genitals.^[3][10]

By 2019, annual sales for Dieux du Stade had declined to 50,000 copies, a trend Libération attributed to a general decline in popularity for physical calendars amid increasing digitization.^[1] Vanity Fair France speculated that the calendar's shift in the mid- to late 2010s towards glossy high fashion-styled photography also contributed to a decline in popularity, a trend the 2020 edition of the calendar attempted to reverse by incorporating a more naturalistic aesthetic.^[3] The most recent edition of the calendar was released for the 2020 calendar year; the 2021 edition of the calendar was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and no subsequent editions have been produced.^[11]

List of editions

Year	Photographer	Cover model	Ref(s)
2001	Kris Gautier	Mike James	[12]
2002	Kris Gautier	Thomas Lombard	[13]
2003	Mathias Vriens	Ignacio Corleto	[14]
2004	François Rousseau	Mirco Bergamasco	[15]
2005	Carter Smith	Olivier Sarraméa	[16]
2006	Fred Goudon	Juan Martín Hernández	[17]
2007	Mariano Vivanco	Julien Arias	[18]
2008	Steven Klein	Geoffroy Messina	[19]
2009	Peter Lindbergh	Sergio Parisse	[20]
2010	Tony Duran	James Haskell	[21]
2011	François Rousseau	Dimitri Szarzewski	[22]
2012	François Rousseau	Sébastien Torresin	[23]
2013	François Rousseau	Scott LaValla	[24]
2014	Fred Goudon	Alexandre Flanquart	[25]
2015	Fred Goudon	Morgan Parra	[26]
2016	Fred Goudon	Sergio Parisse	[20]
2017	Errikos Andreou	Terry Bouhraoua	[27]
2018	Errikos Andreou	Maxime Mermoz	[28]
2019	Ludovic Baron	Clément Daguin	[29]
2020	Pierre-Ange Carlotti	Jules Plisson	[30]

See also

• The Body Issue
• Naked Rugby League
• Pirelli Calendar
• University of Warwick Boat Club

References

External links

• Dieux du stade: Le making of du calendrier 2004 at IMDb
• Dieux du stade: Le making of du calendrier 2005 at IMDb
• Dieux du stade: Le making of du calendrier 2006 at IMDb
• Dieux du stade: Le making of du calendrier 2007 at IMDb
• Dieux du stade: Le making of du calendrier 2008 at IMDb
• Dieux du stade: Le making of du calendrier 2009 at IMDb