Dieux du Stade (English: Gods of the Stadium) is the title of two books and several calendars and DVDs first published in 2001, featuring nude and semi-nude photographs of members of Stade Français, a Paris-based domestic French rugby team. In more recent years, players from other rugby union clubs and athletes from other sports have also been included.
The calendars and book have mostly black-and-white nude, erotic photographs of the players. Starting with the 2004 edition, a DVD covering the making of the calendar has also been released every year.
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Originally created in support of charity, the popularity of the calendars has been credited for the increased fame of the Stade Français team, as well as rugby in general, in France. The calendars are part of a marketing strategy crafted by Max Guazzini, President of the rugby club. A savvy marketer who built the NRJ Radio group, he has successfully used the calendars to attract a new audience to rugby matches (live and on TV), such as women.
The photographers for the yearly editions have been as follows:
In 2006, a cosmetics company bought a license from the club to launch a line of skin care products for men. These "Dieux du Stade" products can be found in France only, and were launched in 2007. They carry names linked to rugby, such as the shower gel "Retour au vestiaire" (translation: "Back to the locker-room").
In 2005 the hardcover book Dieux du Stade: The French National Rugby Team (published by Universal Publishing) was released, containing photos by François Rousseau taken mostly at the same time of the 2004 calendar shoot. In 2010 photos by Tony Duran taken at the same time as that year's calendar shoot were released in the book Gods of the Stadium (published by teNeues Publishing).
Books:
Calendars: