Sony Ericsson Renews Partnership with WTA Tour

The Sony Ericsson-WTA Tour partnership has taken women’s tennis to new audiences through unprecedented fusion of the sport with technology, fashion and music, enabling the Tour to lay the foundation for an unprecedented global growth of women’s tennis.

“Sony Ericsson has been an incredible partner for the last five years and this extension is both a real sign of strength and stability, and a testament to the investment value delivered by our players and tournaments,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. “We are very pleased that Sony Ericsson will remain our partner and we look forward to continuing to deliver to fans and taking women’s tennis and Sony Ericsson to new heights through our joint vision for the future of the sport.”

Aldo Liguori, Corporate VP and Head of Global Communications & PR, Sony Ericsson said, “Our relationship with the WTA Tour over the past five years has been tremendously successful giving us significant international brand exposure and awareness. We are delighted to be extending this relationship for a further two years as we take the company into a new stage of growth.”

Under the extension agreement, Sony Ericsson will become the Tour’s lead global sponsor and will retain the prime net signage at the Tour’s 53 tournaments in 33 countries along with significant television and digital media rights, while becoming the Tour’s lead global sponsor in lieu of title sponsor, resulting in a reversion of the Tour’s official name to WTA Tour commencing later this year. Additionally, Sony Ericsson will no longer title the Tour’s year-end Championships from 2010, set to take place in Doha later this year and in Istanbul from 2011-2013.

Since partnering with the Tour in 2005, Sony Ericsson has taken the sport beyond the confines of the court and has continued to spark energy and interest in women’s tennis. To attract new fans and broaden the appeal of the sport on a global basis, Sony Ericsson has championed innovations such as “Night Tennis” that fuse music, dance and women’s tennis; eye-catching publicity stunts that have made news around the world; and compelling social media content. As the Tour and Sony Ericsson look to the future, Sony Ericsson’s ability to leverage its technology expertise and leading edge mobile phones to create unprecedented engagement and access fans of women’s tennis will take center stage.

Press release from www.sonyericsson.com