Washington’s premiere tennis tournament has a new sponsor, a new format and plans at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park for a new spectator court. On Tuesday, founder Donald Dell and tournament director Jeff Newman rolled out the new and improved Citi Open.
With Legg Mason declining to renew its sponsorship after an 18-year run, Citi has stepped in, signing a multi-year commitment. It was a natural fit. The 200-year-old international financial services giant established a professional women’s tournament last summer in College Park and in recent years has increased its visibility through sports advertising.
“Being a global brand, they certainly provide resources that are gonna help elevate the tournament,” Newman said. “[With] all the branches in the area and the focus they have, it’s really just gonna expand our promotion and the overall exposure of the event.”
The 2012 Citi Open will include men’s and women’s competition at FitzGerald Tennis Center, with the tournaments unchanged from their previous form. Since it is an Olympic year, the men’s field will be reduced from 48 to 32 players, as was the case in 2004 and 2008, and will have a purse of approximately $1.6 million. The women’s event will have 32 players with a purse of $250,000.
To accommodate the additional play, a new grandstand court will be added on the side opposite the current grandstand court and will seat 2,500. Dell was quick to add that construction of the new court would not affect parking capacity. It will be built where practice courts currently reside. According to Newman, the new courts will be ready for this year’s tournament on July?28-Aug. 5.
“It’s quick. It takes a lot of effort,” said Newman, who added that construction will begin next month.
The move comes as the sport is enjoying a worldwide renaissance, according to Linda Clark of ATP Americas. ATP events drew 4.3 million fans in 2011 and broadcast hours for 500-level events, such as the Citi, were up 45 percent. In a time of shrinking sponsorship in many other sports, the ATP has signed new multi-year deals with Corona and FedEx.
“It is one of the most exciting periods in the history of our sport,” Clark said, citing popular international drawing cards Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick.
With the move to Citi, the tournament too is going international. This is the event’s seventh sponsor since Dell and the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation established it in 1969. Early sponsors included the defunct Washington Star newspaper and Sovran Bank. Legg Mason’s 18-year run was the longest for an ATP event in North America.
Citi’s involvement expands the tournament’s reach, which was inevitable considering it is broadcast to 72 other countries.
“Citi is one of the few international banks that’s all over the world. It’s everywhere,” Dell said. “The international aspect of the television was very attractive to them.”
