London and Lisbon, 12 April, 2000: ISL have announced a sub-licensing agreement with the commercial free-to-air broadcaster SIC for live and exclusive television coverage for the Tennis Masters Series and the Tennis Masters Cup in Portugal. Culminating in the Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon between November 28 – December 3 2000, these elite events on the ATP Tour form part of a three year agreement between ISL Worldwide and JoÒo Lagos Sports.
‘SIC’s exclusive broadcast coverage represents a major achievement for the promotion and broadcast of tennis in Portugal’ said JoÒo Lagos, President of JoÒo Lagos Sports, ‘and the new concept is expected to increase tennis audiences and ratings in this country.’ SIC intends to broadcast and promote all events during prime-time, with extended highlights throughout the week, enhanced by extensive live and delayed transmissions which will be shown on SIC’s thematic cable television channels which are planned to start broadcasting this summer. The broadcast concept for the Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon foresees maximum coverage on all SIC channels.
The nine Tennis Masters Series tournaments offer players points which, along with the four Grand Slams and five other International Series events determine who qualifies for the Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon.
This year the ATP Tour has introduced the ATP Champions Race, a calendar year race where each player starts with zero points at the beginning of the year and the player who accumulates the most points by season’s end becomes the world no. 1. Players can earn points at 18 tournaments, including the four Grand Slam events, the nine Tennis Masters Series tournaments and five other International Series events. All top players must compete at the Grand Slams and the Tennis Master Series events.
‘We are delighted to welcome SIC as our new broadcast partner for the Tennis Master Series and Tennis Masters Cup in Portugal,’ said Chris Renner, Managing Director of ISL Tennis. ‘With a 50% market share, SIC will inevitably bring tennis to a large part of the viewing public with the creativity and originality which it has consistently been able to bring out in its televised coverage of sport.’
The Tennis Masters Series is well underway and has been covered since the outset by SIC. The following events remain to be played:
April 17-23 Monte Carlo,
May 8-14 Roma,
May 15-21 Hamburg,
July 31-Aug 6 Toronto,
August 7-13 Cincinnati,
Oct 30-Nov 5 Stuttgart,
Nov 13-19 Paris,
Nov 28-Dec 3 Tennis Masters Cup, Lisbon.
For further information contact:
Lagos Sports: Rui Oliveira, Tel + 351 21 301 9140
SIC Television: JosÚ Fragoso, Tel + 351 21 417 9400
Trimedia Communications: Marion Starck Tel +41 1 388 91 02 or
ISL Television: David Schiller Tel +44 171 616 11 11
Background information about ISL Worldwide and the ISMM Group
ISL is the world’s leading independent sports event media & marketing company. It markets event media and marketing rights including TV, video and other electronic media rights, sponsorships, licensing & merchandising rights and all related services on behalf of international sports federations and other governing bodies on an exclusive worldwide basis.
ISL and its affiliate companies Copyright Promotion Group (CPG), En-Linea and Sponsorship Research International (SRi) are part of the ISMM (International Sports Media & Marketing) Group. The ISMM Group serves its business partners and sponsoring clients with 460 staff members in 34 offices located in the world’s major markets.
ISL’s major business partners include the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), the Union of European Football Association (UEFA), the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), the international Basketball Federation (FIBA), ERC-Rugby, Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP Tour Inc.), the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the International Swimming Federation (FINA) and others.
For further information on ISL Worldwide, respectively the ISMM Group, please refer to ISL homepage at www.islworld.com or www.ismmgroup.com.