ATP in worldwide drive to raise the profile of tennis

Daniel Beauvois, managing director of media at ISL Worldwide, said:

’There is an ongoing process of analysing the brand, but the message is,

’tennis is back’.’

ISL, which a year ago signed a ten-year deal with ATP worth dollars

1.2bn (pounds 750m) for the sponsorship and broadcast rights to ATP

events, has negotiated about pounds 7.5m of airtime as part of broadcast

deals. It expects this figure to increase as further deals are struck

around the world.

ISL has yet to finalise broadcast deals with UK networks, but said it

favours a mixture of free-to-air and paid-for programming.

The ATP is also cutting down the 100 local sponsors of its tennis

fixtures.

It is moving toward having between 15 and 20 global sponsors, with

Mercedes-Benz continuing as headline sponsor, and deals with Fila,

Ericsson, champagne firm Lansons and Waterford Crystal already in place.