Sony Ericsson is "ending its sponsorship of the WTA tour at the end of the 2012 season," according to the AP. Sony Ericsson "became the title sponsor of the women’s tennis tour in 2005 under a six-year, $88 million deal." Although the contract "was extended through the end of 2012, the mobile phone company’s name was dropped from the tour’s title in 2011." Sony Ericsson PR Manager Graciela Pineda said, "This was a strategic decision based on the evolution of the business and the brand" (AP, 12/23). BLOOMBERG NEWS' Danielle Rossingh noted the WTA Tour under Chair & CEO Stacey Allaster's guidance "has secured $160 million in total revenue in the past 18 months." That includes "five new deals with companies including French bank BNP Paribas SA and Swiss watch brand Rolex Group, as well as renewals of existing agreements." The WTA last week announced that it signed a four-year deal with digital sports media company Perform Group, which it "said will double media exposure for women’s tennis" (BLOOMBERG.com, 12/23).
NET LOSS: TENNIS.com's Steve Tignor wrote, "No one is saying that Sony Ericsson put a serious stamp on women’s tennis during its six years as title sponsor. There was an ad that showed the women racing through Rome, and ... well, it’s hard to think of much else. But the communications company did bring money, $88 million of it, a record deal for any women’s sport" (TENNIS.com, 12/26). TENNIS.com's Peter Bodo wrote, "No great loss, I say, although the women may be up against it when they try to find a new tour sponsor. The WTA has been jinxed ever since the end of its relationship with Virginia Slims." More Bodo: "Sony Ericsson has been nothing more than this giant entity wallowing around in pro tennis, slapping its name on anything it could but for reasons nobody cared about, or didn't understand. Their staff was largely invisible, and not a single one of their suits or corpo-gals that I met ever gave the impression that knew, liked, or cared about tennis" (TENNIS.com, 12/23).
