This is a New WTA

Written by: Staff on 25th October 2010

This is a New WTA |

When the WTA Tour renegotiated its’ sponsorship agreement with Sony Ericsson earlier this year at a vastly reduced rate, several things were obviously going to change. And the most visible evidence has been unveiled on the eve of the year ending WTA Tour Championships in Doha in the shape of a new logo.

In March, Sony Ericsson agreed to no longer be the WTA Tour’s title sponsor at the conclusion of an initial six-year deal worth $88 million (approximately $14.7 million annually). Extensive renegotiation between WTA Tour chief executive Stacey Allaster and the tele-communications company resulted in a reduced deal of $27 million over the almost three years -an effective drop of approximately 40%.

From the creative people who work long, hard and expensively on what many would assume is sheer common sense, there comes an unusual air of honesty with the admission that the aim of the new extremely simplistic logo is to shift attention from sponsors to the tour itself.

Previously the tour logo included the WTA name along with main sponsor Sony Ericsson and a small graphic of a tennis player. The replacement, debuted in Qatar over the weekend and to be used extensively in various platforms throughout the 2011 season, features only the letters WTA in white with a bright purple background.

WTA Tour officials maintained the message emanating from the new logo is to remind fans of the “captivating athleticism” of women’s tennis. Unfortunately major ‘active’ but currently injured names such as Serena and Venus Williams, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, who between them can boast the small matter of 32 Grand Slam singles titles.

The eight players who will contest the title in Doha can collectively muster just three, two U.S.Open titles belonging to Kim Clijsters while Francesca Schiavone is the reigning French Open champion. World no.1 Caroline Wozniacki did reach the final of 2009 U.S.Open. Jelena Jankovic experienced the same elation and then disappointment a year earlier. Vera Zvonareva has been runner-up at the last two majors, Wimbledon and the U.S.Open. Samantha Stosur was this year’s beaten finalist at Roland Garros. and Elena Dementieva lost the finals of the French and U.S.Opens six years ago. The final member of the elite singles field is Victoria Azarenka.

The doubles tournament will feature Lisa Raymond, Rennae Stubbs, Vania King, Yaroslava Shvedova, Gisela Dulko, Flavia Pennetta, Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik.

This is the final year of a three-year deal to stage the end of year Championships in Qatar. With the move to Istanbul in Turkey long scheduled, the WTA Tour will actively seek a sponsor for the year-end Championships, as well as other Tour sponsors.

Topics: Francesca Schiavone, French Open Champion, Grand Slam, Jelena Jankovic, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova, Open Titles, Purple Background, Serena And Venus, Serena And Venus Williams, Sony Ericsson, Sponsorship Agreement, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Tele Communications, Tour Championships, Tour Logo, Tour Officials, Visible Evidence, Wta Tour Championships