Starting at the end of March, the Miami Tennis Event – formerly referred to as the Ericsson Open and the fifth largest tennis competition with total prize money of $6.1million (EUR6.8m) – will be re-named the Nasdaq-100 Open for the next six years. No details were given on the finances of the deal.
"There are definitely signs that we are finally recovering – not only has Nasdaq signed a deal with the ATP for the Miami Tennis Event, but outside of the US, the Monte Carlo tennis competition is now to be sponsored by HSBC, and Rome is also close to signing a deal," said Miles.
Martina Navratilova, the first female winner of the Miami Tennis Event in 1985, said the sponsorship deal was encouraging for the sport: "Because the Nasdaq represents 100 technology-based companies in the US, that opens up other potential sponsors for the game."
The tournament was founded by Butch Bucholz and is owned by IMG. Since the collapse of ISL last year, the marketing rights of the Tennis Masters Series tournaments have been controlled by the individual tournaments. In addition, the television rights to the nine tournaments are now marketed and controlled by Tennis Properties Ltd on behalf of the tournaments. The ATP also set up its own in-house marketing arm following the ISL collapse.
The 2002 Nasdaq-100 Open will start on March 20-31 at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne in Miami, Florida.
