IEG Projects Worldwide Spending On Tennis To Grow 4.4% To $739M In 2014

Worldwide spending on amateur and professional tennis tournaments, leagues and sanctioning bodies is expected to total $739M in '14, up 4.4% from '13, according to the latest IEG projections. The increase exceeds the projected 4.3% increase in overall sponsorship spending but lags the 4.9% increase in sports spending. Deal-making at the global level has slowed following an active '13. The ATP this year renewed FedEx Corp. while the WTA reupped BNP Paribas as title sponsor of the season-ending WTA Finals Singapore. Anheuser-Busch InBev is the most active sponsor of tennis with 34% of properties with a sponsor in the malt beverage category reporting a partnership with the company. Endemic companies are the most prolific sponsors of tennis. Sports apparel and equipment companies are 8.4 times more likely to sponsor tennis than the average of all sponsors (IEG).