APPENDIX 19
Memorandum submitted by the Lawn Tennis
Association
STAGING INTERNATIONAL SPORTING EVENTS
Further to your letter of 16 October, I have
pleasure in responding as follows:
BACKGROUND
The Lawn Tennis Association is the governing
body of tennis in Great Britain run as a professionally managed
sports, leisure and entertainment business.
The head office based in London oversees an
infrastructure of seven regional offices, 38 county offices, 2,400
affiliated clubs, 83,663 registered members and over 1,400 sanctioned
tournaments that ensure the development of tennis from the grass
roots through to the professional level. The game is managed in
Scotland and Wales by local associations who are affiliated to
the LTA.
EVENTS
The Lawn Tennis Association is responsible or
jointly responsible for staging the following international professional
tennis tournaments:
The Championships, Wimbledon
Men and Women, Grass
2000 Attendance—455,752
| 25 June-8 July 2001 |
Stella Artois, Queen's
Men, Grass
2000 Attendance—50,464
| 11-17 June 2001 |
DFS Classic, Edgbaston
Women, Grass
2000 Attendance-11,000
| 11-17 June 2001 |
Ladies' International Tournament, Eastbourne
Women, Grass
2000 Attendance—36,500
| 18-23 June 2001 |
Nottingham Open
Men, Grass
2000 Attendance—23,000
| 18-23 June 2001 |
Samsung Open, Brighton
Men, Indoor
2000 tournament currently in progress
1999 Attendance (outdoor, Bournemouth)—13,500 (rain affected)
| 2001 date to be confirmed |
Honda Classic, Royal Albert Hall, London
Veteran Man, Indoor
2000 tournament commences on 6 December
1999 Attendance—25,000
| December 2001 |
Davis Cup ties
NIA, Birmingham (venue to be confirmed)
2000 Attendance—30,000
| 6-8 April 2001 and
21-23 September 2001
(could be home or away)
|
The LTA runs and supports these events with a fully integrated
marketing service with separate divisions in Event Management
and Marketing, Sponsorship and PR. Each division is headed by
experienced sports marketing and sponsorship professionals with
the necessary experience and contacts across tennis to stage international
events.
THE FUTURE
Tennis currently enjoys an extremely high profile in Britain
with Tim Henman in the world top 10 and Greg Rusedski returning
to full fitness.
The LTA is keen to use this profile to attract high ranking
tournaments to Britain in conjunction with the Sports Council
and Government Departments.
The British Davis Cup team, having regained entry to the
World Group in 1998, will be playing its 2001 ties in the Euro-African
Zone Division 1, hoping to return to the World Group in 2002.
The LTA has esablished a very successful David Cup brand where
typically we attract 30,000 people over three days, many of them
new entrants/spectators to the sport.
In respect of specific "tennis" events, we would
comment as follows:
(a) The Olympic Games
The LTA would welcome the opportunity to support any domestic
bid for the Games, providing the support of our expertise and
contacts in tennis in all areas of the country.
(b) The Masters Cup
This tournament is the culmination of the men's professional
international tour and the Grand Slam Championships and features
the leading eight players in the world in terms of rankings at
the end of the season.
In 1998 the ATP World Championships featured two British
players for the first time ever—Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski.
It is an extremely high profile event that if correctly managed
can be rewarding for both the sport, the country and commercially.
In 2000, the Masters Cup will be staged in Lisbon with Sydney
the venue for 2001. Bids are being invited on an annual basis
with London being a possible venue. Due to guarantees required
of $4 million and upwards, the LTA does not believe it to be an
appropriate use of the Association's funds which would otherwise
go into grass roots development. Successful bidding nations attract
a guarantee from the cities in which they are staged, no doubt
with assistance from the hotel and tourist trade.
(c) The Championships, Wimbledon
The Wimbledon Championships are jointly managed by the All
England Lawn Tennis Club and the Lawn Tennis Association. The
net income from this tournament is then invested in the development
and infrastructure of the game in Great Britain. Significant investment
has been made to improve the tournament and public facilities
at the AELTC funded entirely from the Championships and public
debentures. It is the goal of the AELTC and the LTA for the Championships
to remain the best tennis tournament in the world which will require
significant investment in the years to come.
I hope that the above is of use to the Culture, Media &
Sport Committee and if you require any further information, please
do not hesitate to contact me.
November 2000
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