The French Tennis Federation (FFT) and IBM have renewed their partnership for an additional four years. The two organizations have been partners for 28 years (ITR MANAGER, 3/18). ... Emirates airline "will sponsor" the Barcelona Open tennis tournament in a deal, which runs until '18. This year’s tournament takes place from April 20-28. As part of the five-year agreement, the airline "will have promotional rights to integrated branding and digital elements both on and off the court." The airline "will also receive interactive hospitality rights, which include a double marquee in the popular VIP Village and an exhibition booth in the Fan Boulevard" (GULF NEWS, 3/20). ... Bundesliga club Hamburg SV has teamed up with TV and digital production company Endemol. The goal of the partnership will be to produce entertaining and informative formats about the HSV for various club channels such as HSV.TV (Endemol). ... Pro Cycling RadioShack-Leopard Team Owner Flavio Becca "has called a report that the name sponsor will leave the team at the end of the season 'pure speculation.'" He acknowledged that the sponsorship contract expires this year, but said that "no one from the company has been in touch with him to discuss it" (CYCLING NEWS, 3/20). ... U.K. bookmaker William Hill revealed the completion of its acquisition of Sportingbet's Australian business as part of £460M ($696M) transaction. William Hill is the U.K.'s leading land-based and online bookmaker (William Hill). ... A video clip of South Korean figure skater Kim Yu-na wearing lipstick at a press conference in the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships in Canada "went viral on the Internet, sparking keen interest about the brand" from users. The lipstick is Dior's Addict Lip Glow lip balm (KOREA HERALD, 3/19).
