LTA Starts Search As Aegon Ends Deal
The Lawn Tennis Association has announced that Aegon will not to renew its long standing nine-year partnership when the contract expires at the end of 2017.
The mutual agreement follows the LTA’s decision to restructure the lead partner offering for 2018, while Aegon, one of the UK’s largest pension providers, has decided to re-focus its marketing efforts following a number of transformative deals, which will see the business increasingly focused on its specialist financial adviser and employer audiences.
Michael Downey, LTA chief executive said of the announcement: “We are incredibly grateful to the unwavering commitment and contribution that Aegon has made to British Tennis over the last nine years. Led by CEO Adrian Grace, they have been a truly loyal partner involved in a series of memorable British tennis moments through the years. This includes the achievement of record breaking sales and viewership performance by the Aegon Championships at the Queen’s Club, which was recently voted ATP Tournament of the Year in its category by the Players for the last three consecutive years. The Aegon GB Davis Cup Team, won the World Championship in 2015 after a 79 year drought.
“Importantly, despite the overall trend of long-term decline in sports during the last 10 years, tennis participation in Britain is demonstrating signs of recovery which in-part reflects Aegon’s significant financial and marketing support of our mission to “get more people playing tennis more often”.
“While the partnership will conclude at the end of 2017, there is still much to be excited about, with a full 12 months of activity to run including the return of combined men’s and women’s events at the Aegon International at Eastbourne and the Aegon Open at Nottingham, as well as the exciting Centre Court seat expansion at the Aegon Championships at Queens Club.
Speaking of the restructure, Downey continued: “Starting in 2018, the lead partner restructuring plan will provide two important partners with significant opportunity to support and leverage the power of British Tennis. In the new plan, an opportunity will exist for a new lead partner of British Tennis to help take British Tennis into a period of sustainable participation growth and for another equally important partner, the opportunity to be the lead sponsor of the iconic Championships at Queen’s Club, one of the most prestigious ATP Tournaments in the World.”
Adrian Grace, CEO of Aegon UK concluded: “Our long standing partnership with British Tennis has had so many memorable moments along the way and for me, last year’s Davis Cup victory stood out as a highlight. From Aegon’s perspective, our business has been transformed in recent years with a series of major company acquisitions.
“While Aegon’s sponsorship of British Tennis has given the business widespread brand recognition, the company’s marketing activity is increasingly focused on a very specialist audience of financial advisers and employers. Following a very successful partnership, Aegon believe now is the natural time to fully focus on these specialist audiences and we are immensely proud of our involvement in British Tennis.”
On kicking off the search for a new lead partner, James Mercer, LTA commercial director, added: “This isn’t about conventional sponsorship, this is about a partnership to get ‘more people to play tennis more often’. We’re looking for a lead partner who shares in our ambition to inspire people nationwide to be more active and will embrace the opportunity to grow the game across all places to play, from schools to parks to clubs”.
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