USTA Reaches Deal To Buy ATP Tour Event From Tennis Cincinnati
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USTA To Acquire Majority Interest In Western
& Southern Financial Group Masters Tourney |
The USTA has reached a deal with Tennis Cincinnati to acquire a majority interest in the ATP Tour Western & Southern Financial Group Masters tournament. The two groups also are in discussions to potentially secure a top Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournament for a future combined men's and women's event. The USTA plans to initiate significant upgrades to the tournament facility beginning in '09, including a multi-million dollar stadium renovation and an enhanced broadcast TV schedule. Financial terms were not disclosed (USTA). SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Daniel Kaplan notes the Masters Series Indian Wells tournament, the last U.S. men's tournament to be sold, "valued the sanction at $20[M]" in '06. The Cincinnati deal still requires ATP approval. The USTA plans to "expand the tournament's broadcast hours, including moving the finals to CBS in 2009, and combine it by 2011 with" the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Western & Southern Financial Women's Open, which this year will run August 11-17. The USTA, which is "not buying the women's event, also is planning increased marketing and on-site improvements" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 8/4 issue). TENNIS WEEK's Richard Pagliaro reported the elevation of the women's tournament, which currently is a Tier III event, to "premier status on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour calendar means the USTA can create a combined men's and women's event similar to what it owns outright in [the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, Connecticut] and shares a minority ownership stake in Indian Wells." The USTA has an "ownership stake -- either solely or partially -- in six tournaments." USTA Chief Exec of Professional Tennis Arlen Kantarian, in a Q&A with Pagliaro, said of the deal to acquire the Cincinatti ATP stop, "It's an interesting match because we're both non-profits trying to promote tennis as well as enhance what is a successful tournament. What we're doing here ... is making an investment in the mission of the USTA to grow tennis." Kantarian said the USTA has "plans to upgrade the facility, add fan enhancements and elevate [the tournament's] national visibility with CBS committing to televise the final next year" (TENNISWEEK.com, 8/4).
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