Pilot Pen ends 15-year tennis deal 12/11/2009 |
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Pilot Pen Corporation is ending its 15-year sponsorship of the tennis tournament that bears its name after next year’s event.
Tournament organisers are now looking for a new $10m title sponsor after the pen company decided to walk away, blaming the economic downturn.
The combined men’s-women’s event, which attracts some of the biggest names in tennis, will take place under the Pilot Pen name for the final time next August at the Connecticut Tennis Centre at Yale.
Officials are looking for a brand to sign a $2m-a-year five-year contract to become the new title sponsor.
Tournament director Anne Worcester said: “We have to start putting a package together [for potential title sponsors] and that’s going to be a tremendous amount of legwork to do before we can go out in the marketplace.
“At the same time, we’ve already got a list of prospects. We are going to be doing that [putting together information] for the next couple of months and probably in January start our full-court press.”
Pilot Pen signed as title sponsor with the tournament in 1996, when it was a men’s-only event. Through the years, it has seen the addition of a women’s event, the departure of the men in 1998 and the return of the men in 2005.
President and chief executive of Pilot Pen Dennis Burleigh added: “We have enjoyed being the title sponsor of the Pilot Pen tennis tournament. Unfortunately, the economic recession has severely impacted our consumers and the office products industry in particular, necessitating this difficult decision.”
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