To Get Extension of Madrid Contract, Tiriac Pays a Price

Written by: Staff on 3rd January 2012

To Get Extension of Madrid Contract, Tiriac Pays a Price |

Innovative impresario Ion Tiriac has staged another financial coup, signing host city Madrid for another decade of sponsorship of the high-profile Masters 1000 event. The May ATP-WTA tournament may or may not be played on the controversial blue clay to be trialed at this year’s edition in May.

Since changing several seasons ago from an indoor autumn tournament to a key pre-French Open stop, the event has gone from strength to strength, with Romanian billionaire Tiriac guiding every step.

The one-time player from the 1960s and 1970s signed the city to a contract stretching to 2012. But the long-term pact comes with a price: Spanish media report that the sponsorship price for the next three years will be reduced by 50 per cent, the next three to 40, and the last four to 25 percent.

While now played outdoors in the trendsetting Caja Magica with its moveable roof, the event was begun indoors in 2002 in the autumn when Tiriac moved it from Stuttgart in search of new business opportunities. Andre Agassi won it in the debut year, with other champions including Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

Topics: Ion Tiriac, Madrid