New WTA Tour Boss Allaster Faces Challenges On Business Side
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Allaster's Biggest Immediate Challenge Is To
Retain Sony Ericsson As Tour's Title Sponsor |
With the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour stopping in Toronto for the Rogers Cup this week, multiple news outlets profile the tour's new Chair & CEO Stacey Allaster, who "may well be the most powerful woman in professional sports, and one of the most powerful Canadians in international sports," according to Kevin McGran of the TORONTO STAR. Allaster's challenges are "on the business side of the tour," and the "biggest is wading through the recession." Allaster "wants the tour to grow, eyeing $100[M] in annual prize money as well as a larger presence in Asia, as well as India and Brazil," but her "biggest immediate challenge is to retain Sony Ericsson" as the tour's title sponsor when its contract expires next year (TORONTO STAR, 8/16). The GLOBE & MAIL's Michael Grange noted Allaster has "earned a reputation for going the extra mile for sponsors and broadcasting partners -- sharing everything from unused signage to tickets to parking." And women's tennis "continues to serve up aces" despite the "harsh reality of a deep global recession." Among the WTA Tour's 51 events, only the L.A. event has "lost a title sponsor this year," and four events have "recently either found new title sponsors or re-signed their existing sponsors" (GLOBE & MAIL, 8/17).
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Williams Sisters Among The
Few Identifiable WTA Stars |
STAR POWER: In Toronto, Bill Lankhof wrote under the header, "Identity Crisis: The Lack Of Sustained Rivalries And Identifiable Stars Has Made The WTA Tour A Tough Sell To Casual Fans." While the ATP World Tour has "star power anchored by the Roger Federer/Rafael Nadal rivalry, the women's tour has the Williams sisters and a lot of people whose names look like something your kid put together with this alphabet soup." But Allaster said, "We're a global tour. More diversity and regional stars allows us to have a wider footprint in a global economy." Allaster added, "What you're seeing in tennis parallels the world economy. The business is spread out" (TORONTO SUN, 8/16).
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