Esurance, following its league-level sponsorship with MLB, is getting out of tennis after this year.
The online insurer has become one of the top sponsors in the sport, with deals including the U.S. Open, the Emirates Airline U.S. Open Series, and endorsements of Victoria Azarenka and the doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan (aka the Bryan Brothers). Those deals expire after this year and will not be renewed.
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Esurance’s deal with Victoria Azarenka expires at the end of the year. The insurer is sponsoring fan balloting for the MLB All-Star Game.
Photo by: RON ANGLE
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All told, including advertising, Esurance spends low eight figures annually in the sport, and almost all of it is in North America. That sum isn’t a substantial amount by major U.S. league standards, but losing it is a hit for U.S. tennis, which can struggle to attract ad dollars.
“We will be finishing our last year at the Open [this fall] and will continue to work with our talent throughout the remainder of the year,” said Christopher Lee, senior manager of brand partnerships for Esurance. “We have had a great relationship in the tennis space and nothing but positive sentiment and relationships with our partners, but we are excited to shift in a new
direction.”
That new direction is baseball. Esurance announced its deal with MLB in April. It also has deals with the San Francisco 49ers and Golden State Warriors in its San Francisco headquarters market.
Esurance’s tennis portfolio grew in part because of the company’s former CEO, Gary Tolman, and his love of tennis. Tolman left the company earlier this year.
Esurance signed its first U.S. Open deal in 2010. It signed a renewal in 2011, and followed that with a deal in 2013 to become one of the top sponsors at the event, with a three-year package worth $15 million to $20 million.
Esurance
■ Headquarters: San Francisco
■ Website: esurance.com
■ Owned by: Allstate (acquired the company in 2011)
Tennis sponsorships:
■ U.S. Open Championship
■ Emirates Airline U.S. Open Series and select events:
— ATP BB&T Atlanta Open
— ATP Winston-Salem Open
— ATP/WTA Western & Southern Open
— WTA Bank of the West Classic
■ ATP/WTA BNP Paribas Open
Endorsements:
■ Victoria Azarenka
■ Bob and Mike Bryan
Non-tennis sponsorships:
■ MLB: Deal signed this year includes title sponsorship for fan balloting for the All-Star Game
■ San Francisco 49ers: Five-year presenting sponsor deal signed in 2014
■ Golden State Warriors: Deal signed in 2014 put the company’s name on display on the top of each backboard frame at Oracle Arena for non-nationally televised regular-season games
Source: Resource Guide LIVE
