By Justin Cohen @JustinCohen44
Wimbledon TV Ratings
According to the Nielsen Company, through its first six days of broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2, the audience averaged 598,000 viewers, down from 640,000 viewers during the same period in 2012. However, over the first four days of the tournament, ratings increased 80 percent among men 18-34.
Esurance extends partnership with USTA as part of a multi-year US Open Sponsorship Deal
The USTA announced on Tuesday, July 2 that Esurance, the direct-to-consumer car insurance company, has extended and expanded its sponsorship of the US Open. Esurance became a US Open sponsor in 2010, and following the new agreement, the company will continue as the official car insurance sponsor for the event through 2015. The new agreement includes a growing relationship with USTA digital platforms. This year, Esurance will be one of three sponsors of the “US Open Social Wall,” a new fan enhancement to the 2013 US Open. The Social Wall – a 50-foot wide by 8-foot high video wall located on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and replicated on USOpen.org – showcases fan passion for the tournament by centralizing and displaying the most compelling US Open-related social content. Esurance will also be the presenting sponsor of the US Open iPad app. This includes live streaming on the iPad app and USOpen.org, the official website of the US Open. Esurance’s on-site presence at the US Open will include branding exposure with courtside signage in Arthur Ashe Stadium, USTA shuttles to and from the event, select on-site maps and sponsorship of a bag-check station for the convenience of fans. The comprehensive partnership also includes media support of tournament television broadcasts and sponsorship elements surrounding Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day. Additionally, Esurance will sponsor six Emirates Airline US Open Series events leading up to America’s Grand Slam in New York including the BB&T Open in Atlanta, Bank of the West Classic at Stanford, Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Winston-Salem Open and the New Haven Open at Yale. “Our continued partnership with the USTA provides Esurance with an incredible opportunity to engage with potential customers and millions of tennis fans,” said Esurance President and CEO Gary Tolman. “The expansion of our digital presence at the US Open aligns perfectly with Esurance’s approach of providing innovative technology that empowers consumers and makes experiences better and more enjoyable.”
Penn and Dasani partner to create limited edition tennis ball pack
Penn and DASANI have partnered up and have created a limited edition tennis ball pack just in time for the summer. The pack includes six cans of Penn’s America’s #1 Selling Championship tennis balls and a co-branded DASANI/Penn cooler made of recycled materials, perfect for holding DASANI water bottles while on the tennis court. The tennis ball pack also includes discount coupons for DASANI water and DASANI DROPS flavor enhancers. Penn and DASANI teamed up after finding they attracted similar consumers and shared similar sustainability initiatives. DASANI uses PlantBottle® packaging made from up to 30% plant-based material, which replaces some of the non-renewable petroleum or fossil-based resources used in conventional PET plastic. PlantBottle® packaging, which is 100% recyclable, helps conserve our world’s precious resources. DASANI also encourages people to recycle and when doing so, twist their bottles down to half of their size to help reduce overflowing recycling bins. When people “Twist, Recycle, Repeat,” recycled PET plastic bottles can be repurposed to produce products like T-shirts, coolers and even new bottles.
Federer commits to July’s Hamburg and Gstaad clay-court events
Following a shocking second round loss at Wimbledon last week, Roger Federer announced that he will compete later this month at clay-court tournaments in Hamburg and Gstaad. The Hamburg event starts on July 15, while the Gstaad ATP World Tour 250 event begins on July 22. “I’m really looking forward to playing in front of my home fans in Gstaad this summer,” Federer said on his official website. “I have got a lot of great memories of the tournament in the mountains of Switzerland.” Federer has a 27-8 record on the season, with his lone title coming on grass last month at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.
ATP names season-ending trophy after Brad Drewett
The ATP World Tour is honoring their late executive chairman and president, Brad Drewett, by naming its season-ending tournament award The Brad Drewett Trophy. Drewett, a former pro and tournament director of the ATP World Tour Finals from 2001-2011, died in May.
Family Weekend set for this weekend at Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport
The kick-off event for the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I., will take place on Saturday, July 6 and Sunday, July 7 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET., featuring kids tennis clinics on the grass courts every hour, scavenger hunts, arts and crafts, and other fun family activities in the museum. Fans attending can also expect to see world class tennis action up close as pros compete for the final four spots in the Main Draw in the Qualifying Round. For more information including ticket information, please visit www.halloffametennischampionships.com.
Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) launches educational website
Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) has announced the launch of their online educational website, PTRtennis.tv. As professional organization, PTR’s new online educational website will provide many valuable educational content from top rated speakers during PTR events around the world. Currently, there are 20 presentations available on PTRtennis.tv. Most are one hour, but three hour presentations are also available. Once a presentation is downloaded to a computer, Smartphone or tablet, it can be accessed at the viewer’s convenience – 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without expiration. The initial videos are presentations from Directors of Tennis, 10 & Under Tennis Conferences and PTR Symposium. PTR will continually upload new videos as lectures are taped during PTR educational events around the country. At least three more events will be filmed this year: the PTR Midwest Conference in early August, as well as the Directors of Tennis Conference and Junior Development Conference, both set for October.
Philadelphia Freedoms offering special ticket deals for upcoming matches in July
The Philadelphia Freedoms announced that if you buy a full price box seat for the July 10 match against Andy Roddick and the Springfield Lasers, you will receive a FREE ticket to the Freedoms match on July 17 featuring Top 20 player Sloane Stephens. Other attractions during the July 10 match include an appearance by tennis legend Billie Jean King, debut of the new Freedoms mascot and free junior Wilson tennis racquets for all children in attendance. The Freedoms also announced another special ticket price night set for the July 23 home match against the Boston Freedoms. Tickets for that match are on sale for just $25 for adults and $15 for kids. To order your tickets, please call (866) WTT-TIXS.
TITANIC: THE TENNIS STORY now available as an audio book
TITANIC: THE TENNIS STORY, the historical novel that narrates the incredible story of two tennis players, Dick Williams and Karl Behr, and how they survived the sinking of the Titanic disaster in 1912 only to play each other in the quarterfinals of the modern-day U.S. Open tennis championships — with the winner going on to stage a major upset victory in the final — is now available for sale as an audio book. Written by Lindsay Gibbs and narrated by Julie Eickhoff, TITANIC: THE TENNIS STORY tells a narrative tale of Williams and Behr and their incredible stories of survival from the Titanic disaster. The two tennis standouts amazingly survived the sinking and met each other on the rescue ship Carpathia. Two years later, the two became U.S. Davis Cup teammates and again faced each other in the quarterfinals in the biggest tennis tournament in the country, the U.S. Nationals — the modern-day U.S. Open. The winner went on to become the unexpected singles champion of the tournament, winning their first major singles championship with a final-round upset over the world’s best player Maurice McLoughlin – the Roger Federer of this era in tennis. The audio version is available on Amazon.com for $17.46 and also on Audible.com and iTunes.