USTA Unveils Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
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USTA Holds Ceremony For King Prior
To Evening Matches At U.S. Open
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The USTA National Tennis Center last night was officially renamed the USTA Billie
Jean King National Tennis Center in a ceremony prior to the evening session in
Arthur Ashe Stadium. During a press conference yesterday morning, when King was
asked if the USTA had told her how much money it could have made in a corporate
naming-rights deal for the facility, she asked USTA Chief Exec of Professional
Tennis Arlen Kantarian if it was $6-10M. Kantarian said that the number was about
$6M, likely meaning per year. “I want to thank the USTA for not selling
a sponsorship to every single [item],” King said. She also said she hoped
the Mets would follow suit and name their new ballpark after Jackie Robinson (Daniel
Kaplan, SportsBusiness Journal).
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: USA Network tennis analyst
Jim Courier said of naming the venue for King, “This is not about Billie
Jean King, the tennis player. This is about Billie Jean King, the pioneer, and
that’s why it’s appropriate” (USA Network, 8/28). Former
WTA Tour CEO Anne Worcester added, “Billie Jean King’s contributions
expand beyond women’s tennis. What Billie Jean accomplished in life raised
awareness for what women can do not just in sports, but in life” (Westchester
JOURNAL NEWS, 8/29). In L.A., Bill Dwyre: “In renaming the U.S. National
Tennis Center in her name, tennis paid proper homage to King as a champion, not
only of tennis but of women’s rights as well” (L.A. TIMES, 8/29).
In N.Y., George Vecsey writes USTA execs “gave up millions of dollars of
potential naming rights in order to honor a woman from the public courts, but
in doing so they also raised a note of idealism” (N.Y. TIMES, 8/29).
On Long Island, Shaun Powell writes the name “pays the kind of respect that
you won’t get from any other major stadium or sports complex in this country.
That’s because none salute women and none echo the kind of qualities that
Billie Jean and Ashe stood for” (NEWSDAY, 8/29).
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