Indian Wells, March 16th, 2000: ISL Worldwide and Newsweek today announced their newly agreed partnership, inaugurating Newsweek as a global presenting partner for the Tennis Master Series, the elite series on the ATP Tour. The three-year agreement between ISL Worldwide and Newsweek extends from 2000 through 2002. The tournament in Indian Wells, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, began on March 13th in the new $75 million stadium, and features the world’s top ranked men’s tennis players on the ATP tour.
Newsweek was formerly a local partner at Indian Wells, holding the title known ad the Newsweek Champions Cup. This successful partnership has led to an extension of Newsweek’s involvement and a substantial increase in investment in this popular tennis series. ‘We are delighted that I has been possible to build on our positive past experience at Indian Wells. As such, this partnership is a perfect fit in our bid to build a global platform for our international publication.’ Said Harold Shain, Chief Operating Officer of Newsweek.
As a global partner, Newsweek will receive virtual or permanent signage at all events, as well as tickets, hospitality and other benefits. Newsweek will also carry an annual special advertising section in conjunction with ISL and ATP Tour featuring advertisements and editorial coverage on the Tennis Master Series. An extensive advertising campaign for the series was also launched on March 13th by ISL.
‘We are very pleased to welcome Newsweek as our global partner for the Tennis Master Series’, said Chris Renner, Managing Director of ISL Tennis ‘ The fact that Newsweek were able to move forward with us in our expanding marketing strategy is an encouraging sign that our visions for men’s professional Tennis are on the right track.’
‘Newsweek has been an important contributor to our sport and we are delighted they decided to increase their commitment and become a global partner for the Tennis Master Series,’ said Mark Miles of ATP tour. ‘THE opportunities they bring to promote the new brand are an essential part of our brand implementation strategy and we look forward to working with them.’
This year the ATP Tour has introduced the ATP Champions Race, a calendar year race where the player who accumulates the most points by the end of the season becomes no. 1. Players earn points at 18 tournaments, including the nine Tennis Masters Series tournaments, the four Grand Slams events, and five other International Series events.
The Tennis Masters Series includes the following events:
March 13-19, Indian Wells
March 23- April 2, Ericsson Open, Miami
April 17- 23, Monte Carlo
May 8-14, Roma
May 15-21, Hamburg
July 31- August 6, Toronto
August 7-13, Cincinnati
October30 -November 5, Stuttgart
November 13-19, Paris
November 28- December 3, Tennis Masters Cup, Lisboa
Founded in 1933, Newsweek provides comprehensive coverage of nati0onal and international affairs, business society, science and technology, and arts and entertainment. Headquartered in New York Newsweek has 21 bureaus located in the U.S. and 4 million worldwide. Newsweek’s total U.S. audience exceeds 19 million and 22.5 million worldwide. Th magazine appears in more than 190 countries. Newsweek holds more National Magazine Awards, given by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) than any other newsweekly. Newsweek is also on the World Wide Web at www.newsweek.com.
For further information contact:
Newsweek: Roy N. Brunett, Director of Communications Newsweek at Rbrune@newsweek.com or ++1 212 445 4343
ISL Worldwide: Lilly Frei at lilly.frei@islworld.com or +41 1 388 91 27
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 & mechanising 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 Associations (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 the ISL homepage at www.islworld.com or www.ismmgroup.com.