MIAMI – (MARCH, 2003) Microsoft, the world’s largest software company, has signed on as the Official Technology Partner of the 2003 NASDAQ-100 Open, Tournament Chairman Butch Buchholz announced this week. Microsoft, a NASDAQ-listed company, will have its familiar logos displayed side-by-side with NASDAQ on the back wall, bringing a synergy which is unprecedented in sports title sponsorships.

The 19th NASDAQ-100 Open, the world’s largest tournament with title sponsorship, will be played March 19-30 in Miami. Champions Serena Williams and Andre Agassi are set to defend their singles titles as 96 men and 96 women compete for over $6.2 million in prize money.

‘Our brand is one of most important assets we have to demonstrate the business value we offer to companies worldwide,’ said Jon Roskill, General Manager of Server and Developer Marketing at Microsoft.

‘Sponsoring the NASDAQ-100 Open, gives us another means of communicating to our customers worldwide that Microsoft gives businesses the software they need to be agile and stay ahead in an increasingly competitive and cost-conscious marketplace.’

‘We are proud to partner with Microsoft and all that the brand represents in today’s world,’ Buchholz said. ‘Microsoft is easily one of the most recognizable brands on earth. I am excited about the future potential of this partnership and how their vast capabilities can be applied at the NASDAQ-100 Open.’

The signing of Microsoft is clearly a step toward realizing the long-term vision that Buchholz and Wick Simmons, Chairman of The Nasdaq Stock Market set forth in consummating the NASDAQ-100 title sponsorship in February 2002.

‘I’ve said from the day we signed NASDAQ to name our tournament that I hope to look out over the stadium one day in the future and see NASDAQ-listed companies displaying their brands prominently on the NASDAQ-100 Open back wall. The addition of Microsoft, one of the NASDAQ’s elite, is a giant step in that direction,’ Buchholz said.

‘We set out to create a title sponsorship that would be about more than just the NASDAQ brand, but about our listed companies,’ Simmons said. ‘Bringing Microsoft on board at the NASDAQ-100 Open is a key piece to realizing this goal. NASDAQ is the home of category-defining companies that are changing the world and there is no better standard-bearer for NASDAQ-listed companies than Microsoft.’

For more details contact:

Nasdaq-100 Open
David Tratner, Media/ Communications
Tel: +1 305 446 2200