The "underlying motif" of the recently concluded du
Maurier Canadian Open in Toronto was "finding a new sponsor"
to replace Imperial Tobacco when it withdraws in '98 due to
tobacco sponsorship legislation, according to Tom Tebbutt of
the Toronto GLOBE & MAIL. Imperial Tobacco has been the
sponsor for 19 years and paid nearly C$10M annually. But
now there is "talk" of separate sponsorships for the men's
and women's events, "to make things more affordable." Among
companies "mentioned as potential" sponsors: Bell Canada,
Molson, Corel, Toshiba, Evian and AT&T Canada. The
involvement of these companies "could be affected by the
coming decision" of whether the ATP Tour reduces its Super
Nine events to seven, "possibly downgrading the status of
the men's Canadian Open," and/or "increases" the number of
mixed events. Talks "may resolve those questions" during
next week's U.S. Open (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 8/18).
AD GUY: USTA Corporate Champion sponsors Heineken and
IBM will both feature John McEnroe in ads surrounding the
U.S. Open. Heineken will "sport" McEnroe in national TV,
radio and POP ads, created by Wells BDDP, New York. The ads
support a promo that offer a McEnroe t-shirt. IBM Dir of
Sports Marketing Tom Burke said Ogilvy & Mather, New York,
is creating two new McEnroe spots for the U.S. Open that
focus on IBM's U.S. Open web site (AD AGE, 8/18).
