The WTA Tour and Sony Ericsson today announced a two year extension to their existing partnership that will see Sony Ericsson, one of the world’s leading mobile phone manufacturers, become the lead global sponsor for the Tour through to the end of 2012.
The Sony Ericsson-WTA Tour partnership has taken women’s tennis to new audiences through unprecedented fusion of the sport with technology, fashion and music, enabling the Tour to lay the foundation for an unprecedented global growth of women’s tennis.
“Sony Ericsson has been an incredible partner for the last five years and this extension is both a real sign of strength and stability, and a testament to the investment value delivered by our players and tournaments,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. “We are very pleased that Sony Ericsson will remain our partner and we look forward to continuing to deliver to fans and taking women’s tennis and Sony Ericsson to new heights through our joint vision for the future of the sport.”
Aldo Liguori, Corporate VP and Head of Global Communications & PR, Sony Ericsson said, “Our relationship with the WTA Tour over the past five years has been tremendously successful giving us significant international brand exposure and awareness. We are delighted to be extending this relationship for a further two years as we take the company into a new stage of growth.”
World No. 5 Venus Williams, who played a role in the Tour’s renewal discussions with Sony Ericsson, added: “I’ve been playing on Tour for 15 years now and it’s amazing to see how much women’s tennis has grown in the last five years since Sony Ericsson has been involved with the Tour. The value that Sony Ericsson brings to women’s tennis is significant, giving us tremendous opportunities to market the sport and connect with fans in every corner of the globe.”
Under the extension agreement, Sony Ericsson will become the Tour’s lead global sponsor and will retain the prime net signage at the Tour’s 53 tournaments in 33 countries along with significant television and digital media rights, while becoming the Tour’s lead global sponsor in lieu of title sponsor, resulting in a reversion of the Tour’s official name to WTA Tour commencing later this year. Additionally, Sony Ericsson will no longer title the Tour’s year-end Championships from 2010, set to take place in Doha later this year and in Istanbul from 2011-2013.
Well, at least we will no longer have to put up with the WTA’s sickening obsequiousness to its title-sponsor, such as the way it uses the term “Sony Ericsson WTA Tour” even when referring to WTA Tour history before Sony Ericsson became the title-sponsor.
It’s a tough economy, and it’s good that they are still on board. I wonder if Stacey is cooking up any other deals to supplement?