ATP Tour Announces Multiyear Sponsorship Deal With FedEx

The ATP and FedEx today formally announced that they have signed a three-year sponsorship deal that makes FedEx a Platinum Sponsor and the official carrier of the ATP World Tour. FedEx also gains global marketing rights, and the company will sponsor 17 World Tour events across 12 countries. The deal will launch at the '10 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in November and will extend through '13 (ATP). SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Daniel Kaplan reports the deal is “valued in the low seven figures annually” and allows FedEx to "promote itself as the official express delivery company of the ATP.” Sources said the deal is “largely global and mostly European” in nature. The agreement includes rights for FedEx at individual tournaments “if there are no local conflicts” as express delivery is “not a common category.” Kaplan notes office supplies is “relatively common, so where FedEx has a FedEx Office location, a tournament with a rival office supply deal could not participate.” FedEx sponsors the French Open and at one time, sponsored the local ATP stop in Memphis. The FedEx agreement “marks the second major sponsorship” ATP World Tour Exec Chair & President Adam Helfant has secured this year. Helfant signed Corona to be “the replacement for Mercedes-Benz as the ATP’s top sponsor” in February, and he promised “several more large deals.” is (SPORTSBUSINESS JORNAL, 9/6 issue).

PLAYING AN EXTRA SET: SBJ's Kaplan reports the WTA Tour “planned to drop Sony Ericsson from its name” by the U.S. Open but now “it intends to do so by the end of its season in early November.” That means Sony Ericsson “continues to adorn the nets of WTA events, and players are required to wear the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour patch on their dress or shirt while playing.” WTA Tour Senior VP/Global Marketing & Communications Andrew Walker said that “the rebranding effort was taking longer than initially expected” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 9/6 issue).