Amex US Tennis Sponsorship includes Personal TV

The Olympics aren't even over, but that doesn't mean it's not time to begin thinking about the next sports marketing event. American Express, which has backed the U.S. Open tennis tournament for the past 15 years, is once again prepped to help promote this year's event with several different efforts--including a print, outdoor and online advertising campaign and personalized programming at the event itself.

The advertising effort kicked off Thursday with out-of-home placements throughout New York City. The ads feature Venus Williams and James Blake, following the company's well-known "Are you a Cardmember?" theme.

"We know these players are well-liked and relevant to the NY area," says Jessica Igoe, director of global sponsorship marketing, tells Marketing Daily: "It's a way to connect with our customers. For us, it gives us a way to stop people in their tracks and say that's cool to look at, and then it highlights the benefits that fans and card members can get on-site."

Among other on-site amenities, the company will provide free personal televisions that American Express cardholders can borrow for a day at the Arthur Ashe Stadium and USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Grounds. Via the televisions, spectators can watch matches on all the courts, as well as access draws, live scoring and player bios.

Programming on the sets will also include a channel with Williams, Blake and Billie Jean King sharing their beloved moments of the tournament. Content for that channel will be updated with other players sharing their memories throughout the tournament, Igoe says. "The TVs will have these unique moments as well as be a guide to the Open," Igoe says. "Everything we do on-site is to enhance the fan experience. It's to make the experience better. "

For non-cardholders and those who are not in New York for the tournament, the company is also sponsoring Web programming on the USOpen.org site, which will feature hourly updates from the Open, as well as other athletes sharing their memories of the U.S. Open.

From: Media Post's Marketing Daily

Wimbledon by Numbers

As the champions are about to be crowned for another year at the famous grass courts of the All England Club, time to reflect, not just on the tennis, but the business of the event.

Wimbledon is global brand that made almost £25 million profit after tax last year. The event is watched on television in over 562 million homes in 178 countries. Nearly half a million spectators, paying anywhere from £5 to £60 per ticket, will pass through the gates in the leafy outer suburb of London. And the spending won't stop once they are inside - visitors will buy 17,000 bottles of champagne and 31 tons of strawberries, 100,000 pints of beer and 130,000 lunches.

Sponsors include Rolex, IBM and HSBC - big names who are aiming their products at a global, affluent market and taking advantage of a rare week of sunshine in July for some hospitality and deal making. Some of the sponsorship monies are being used to bring the centre court up to super-modern standards. Work due to be completed in 2009 will increase the number of seats to 15,000 and allow the roof to be closed so rain (which so often delays the event) does not stop play.

And what of the other 50 weeks of the year, well organizers have opened 34 Wimbledon stores around the world, (14 in China alone) that sell everything from logo-bearing towels to diamond-encrusted jewellery. It's a long way from a gentlemanly game in white in 1877.

The ? Mens Tennis at Queens

Wimbledon starts today, the famous Grand Slam event held on grass on the outskirts of London. Traditionally the men warm up at Queens Club and since the seventies that tournament has been sponsored by Stella Artois.

This year, perhaps as part of the Belgian beer's campaign to position their brand as something other than the drink of football hooligans and 'wife beaters', the Stella name was dropped from the hoardings and flags and replaced with just the Artois name.

Next year, the familiar red will not be seen at all. The title sponsorship for the pre-Wimbledon event at Queens is up for grabs.

For more - read Claire Beale's article "Adland wonders what returns it might get from serving up tennis"