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| The event is the longest-running tournament in a single city in the United States. |
Life insurer Western & Southern Financial Group renewed for another three years as title sponsor of the tennis Masters Series event in Cincinnati. The company also will name the lower-level WTA Tour stop there for two more years.
The company and tournament organizers declined to comment on terms, but title sponsors generally cover at least prize money, which is $2.45 million for the men and $170,000 for the women. A title sponsor’s expenditures are commonly split between rights fees and ad spending on TV telecasts.
“They like the branding, but they really like that this is a Cincinnati tradition and that they are helping to preserve it,” said Phil Smith, the tournament’s director of marketing.
The event is the longest-running tournament in a single city in the United States, having started in Cincinnati in 1899.
While the life insurer has hospitality and charitable initiatives associated with the sponsorship, the firm is upfront in describing the deal as mostly about civic pride.
| Cincinnati Masters Seriestitle sponsors |
| Company | Years |
| Thriftway | 1987-1995 |
| Great American | 1996-1999Insurance |
| Western & Southern | 2002-2007Financial |
| Note: Between 1899 and 1986, the event had no title sponsorship, and it did not sell one in 2000 and 2001 as part of the ATP’s global marketing plan. |
| Source: Western & Southern Financial Group Masters |
“When we initially got involved in 2002, the overriding factor for us was a desire to be a good corporate citizen and to ensure this world-class event did not leave Cincinnati, as it was on the verge of because of lack of title sponsor,” said Herb Brown, a spokesman for Western & Southern.
The tournament had dropped title sponsorship in 2000 when the ATP sold marketing rights to the Masters Series to Swiss company ISL Worldwide, which did away with individual event sponsorships. That company, however, went bankrupt in 2002, leaving events like Cincinnati scrambling to find new benefactors.
Western & Southern also agreed to name the women’s event that was created last year. The women’s stop carried the Western & Southern name last year, too, but there has been no formal contract until the recent extensions. Both tournaments are owned by the same organizer.
Western & Southern Financial said, as in past years, that it will advertise on ESPN’s Masters Series telecasts, as well as on CBS Sports’ broadcast of the men’s final.
The Tennis Channel owns rights to telecast the women’s event.
The men’s Masters Series event this year is scheduled for Aug. 15-21. The women’s event is slated to occur July 18-24.
