The O2 Arena in London will host the ATP World Tour Finals until at least 2020 following a new title sponsorship deal.
The Year-end championships features the eight best players in the world participating in a week-long tournament with a prize money pool of US$7. 5 million. London has been the venue of the tournament since 2009. Last year the venue achieved an attendance of 252,481 people. Since The O2 first hosted the event, they have welcome over 250,000 visitors each year.
“This is sports entertainment called tennis. To have 250,000 people in a week in unbelievable. I played in this event a few times, but my one regret is that I didn’t play here.” Former world No.1 Boris Becker said during the launch announcement in London.
Japanese company Nitto has become the new London sponsor. The Nitto Denko Corporation was founded in 1918 and specialises in the production of electrical installation materials. Under the new agreement, the tournament will be renamed the ‘Nitto ATP Finals.’
We’re delighted to extend our stay in London and to have Nitto come on board as title sponsor over the next four years,” said ATP CEO Chris Kermode.
“It’s fantastic news to have such an ambitious and innovative company partner with our season-ending showcase in what is unquestionably one of the most exciting times in men’s professional tennis in recent memory. We look forward to a successful partnership and to the continued growth of our season finale in London,” he later added.
In recent years there have been discussions about relocation the event to another city. Both Beijing and Abu Dhabi looked into staging the event, but fell short against The O2 and their attendance records. British newspaper, The Mirror, has also said that Hamburg, Germany and New York, USA expressed interest.
“There was strong interest from other cities, but the decision was to stay here.” Said Kermode.
Following the agreement, London will host the event for at least 11 years, which is the second longest in history. New York currently holds the record when they hosted the championships between 1977-1989.
