First Service Point: MPS Group To Title Sponsor Jax WTA Event

Jacksonville-based MPS Group Friday will formally announce it has signed a three-year deal to title sponsor the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event in Jacksonville, according to Gene Frenette of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. The deal was agreed to last week between MPS, the WTA and Octagon, which owns the event's sanctioning rights. As part of the deal, the MPS Group Championships will be played at Sawgrass Country Club on April 6-12. The event marks the "first major sports sponsorship for the MPS Group," a provider of staffing and consulting services. A source said that Octagon could have opted to move the event and "entertained inquiries and offers to relocate the tournament to several markets, including Asia and Europe." However, it "chose to keep the tournament in the Jacksonville area because of past support and the natural tie-in with MPS." Frenette noted the tournament had been titled by Bausch & Lomb for 22 years and had been held at Amelia Island Plantation (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 8/13).