Got Milk? Tennis Canada, Dairy Farmers Sign Sponsorship Deal

DFC's Nathalie Savoie (c) With Tennis Canada's Eugene Lapierre And Andre Parent

Tennis Canada has signed the Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) to a multi-year, multi-million dollar sponsorship deal that will "affect the sport at every level," according to Beverley Smith of the GLOBE & MAIL. Sources said that the deal is "worth more than $5[M] over three years." The promotion is called Everyday Champions and is meant "partly to coax a new generation of [Canadian ATP Tour player] Daniel Nestors into existence." The sponsorship is "based first on grassroots development," as the promotion will "roll into 590 communities, clubs and schools throughout Canada." But the deal also "extends to the elite competitions such as the Rogers Cup tournaments in Montreal and Toronto," at which the DFC will be a "platinum sponsor, the highest level possible, giving it a camera-visible presence at an event that has little space for such signage." The DFC will be Tennis Canada's "second largest sponsor," after Rogers Communications. Smith writes the deal is "remarkable in that it comes at a time when corporate Canada may have already thrown its financial support behind" the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Tennis Canada President & CEO Michael Downey: "There's no doubt that Vancouver and Beijing are taking a fair bit of money out of the sponsorship field. But we've done very well in sponsorship. We're talking about health and nutrition here, so there was a magic in that that helped us get this partnership" (GLOBE & MAIL, 5/23).