Western & Southern Financial Group has extended its title sponsorship of the Western & Southern Open for an additional three years.
The partnership is the longest active naming rights agreement for a professional tennis tournament in North America. This past August was the 20th edition of the tournament with Western & Southern as the title sponsor.
“We are honored to continue our support for world-class tennis in Cincinnati,” said John F. Barrett, Chairman, President and CEO of the Western & Southern Financial Group. “This wonderful tournament is both a living tribute to Cincinnati’s rich history and an important part of its bright future.”
As part of this renewal, the Western & Southern Open will feature digital back walls in 2022, which have not previously been used at a combined ATP and WTA event in North America. The LED back walls will create a wraparound effect in conjunction with the digital side walls that have been used since 2017. In addition, LED digital signage has been used at the tournament for the net judge box since 2018 and on the umpire's chair since 2019.
The Western & Southern Open features an ATP Masters 1000 as well as a WTA 1000 tournament in the same week at the same venue, making it one of five events to host concurrent top tier tour tournaments along with Indian Wells, Calif., Madrid, Miami and Rome.
“The decades-long support from Western & Southern Financial Group has afforded us the opportunity to grow the Western & Southern Open into one of the premier events on the tennis calendar,” said Katie Haas, COO of the Western & Southern Open. “Our partnership with Western & Southern has been critical in allowing us to showcase Cincinnati to a global audience and we look forward to continuing this relationship for years to come.”
Since becoming a single-week tournament featuring both tours in 2011, the Western & Southern Open has attracted more than 1.8 million spectators, including ticket buyers who have traveled to Cincinnati from all 50 states and more than 35 countries. International broadcast agreements deliver coverage to more than 50 million viewers in over 160 countries.
Locally, through its partnership with Tennis for Charity, the tournament has contributed more than $11 million to community initiatives, including Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the Barrett Cancer Center at the University of Cincinnati, and Tennis for City Youth.
The Western & Southern Open is held annually at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio. The 2022 tournament will take place Aug. 13-21.
About the Western & Southern Open
Founded in 1899, the Western & Southern Open is an ATP Masters 1000 and a WTA 1000 tournament. The Western & Southern Open annually welcomes nearly 200,000 fans who come from all 50 states and more than 35 countries and is seen by more than 50 million global viewers in over 160 countries. The tournament is also one of the last stops on the US Open Series before the US Open in New York. Since 1974, the tournament has contributed more than $11 million to various beneficiaries including Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the Barrett Cancer Center and Tennis for City Youth. The tournament is held at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, 20 miles north of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio. For more information, visit www.wsopen.com.
About the US Open Series
The US Open Series serves as a true “regular season” of summer tennis in North America, linking nine WTA and ATP Tour tournaments to the US Open. Featuring a cohesive weekly viewing schedule, as well as comprehensive outreach and grassroots engagement initiatives, the Series serves as a vital platform to promote and grow the game of tennis in person and at home. Fans can follow along all summer as today’s top champions go head-to-head with tomorrow’s emerging stars, while each tournament engages its local community with a variety of programs geared toward showcasing and promoting the game to new and existing fans.
About the WTA
Founded by Billie Jean King in 1973 on the principle of equal opportunity, the WTA is the global leader in women’s professional sports. The WTA is one of the world’s most recognizable and high-profile sports organizations, consisting of more than 1650 players representing approximately 85 nations, all competing to earn WTA rankings points and prestigious tournament titles. The WTA Tour is comprised of over 50 events and four Grand Slams, spanning six continents and nearly 30 countries and regions with a global audience of over 700 million. The Tour culminates with the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen, honoring the season’s top singles and doubles players based on the final standings of the Porsche Race to Shenzhen leaderboard. Further information on the WTA can be found at www.wtatennis.com.
About the ATP
As a global governing body of men’s professional tennis, the ATP’s mission is to serve tennis. We entertain a billion global fans, showcase the world’s greatest players at the most prestigious tournaments, and inspire the next generation of fans and players. From the ATP Cup in Australia, to Europe, the Americas and Asia, the stars of the game battle for titles and FedEx ATP Rankings points at ATP Masters 1000, 500 and 250 events, and Grand Slams. All roads lead towards the Nitto ATP Finals, the prestigious season finale held in Turin, Italy. Featuring only the world’s top 8 qualified singles players and doubles teams, the tournament also sees the official crowning of the year-end ATP World No. 1, the ultimate achievement in tennis. For more information, please visit www.ATPTour.com.
