The ATP, governing body of men’s professional tennis, has announced the opening of an international tender process to determine the future location of the ATP World Tour’s season finale, the Nitto ATP Finals, beyond 2020.
The Nitto ATP Finals is the year-end climax to the men’s professional tennis season, featuring only the world’s best eight qualified singles players and doubles teams as they battle it out for the last title of the season and the biggest indoor tennis tournament in the world.
The prestigious season-ending tournament is to be held at The O2 in London through to 2020, where it has been staged to wide acclaim since 2009. The event has successfully established itself as one of the major annual sporting events worldwide, with more than 250,000 fans attending the event annually, and global viewership figures reaching an average of 95 million viewers each year.
Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said: “Our season-ending tournament has been a remarkable success story since it moved to London in 2009, and we look forward to continuing the tournament’s growth over the next three years at The O2 through to 2020.”
“The tournament’s popularity and stature have reached unprecedented heights in London, which has attracted significant interest from potential future host cities over the years. We feel the time is right to undertake this international tender process as we look to secure the event’s future beyond 2020. The O2 has set a very high bar, and we expect that staying in London beyond 2020 will also be among the options for consideration as we go through this process.”
The tournament was first held in Tokyo in 1970 and has been staged in some of the major cities around the world, including New York City, Sydney, and Shanghai. The season finale’s longest stay in a single venue was across 13 consecutive editions at Madison Square Garden from 1977-1989.
The ATP has chosen The Sports Business Group at Deloitte to manage the bid process, which begins from today with an expression of interest phase. Any interested parties must submit their official applications by 2 November 2018, after which a short list of potential candidate cities will be announced on Friday 14th, December, with a final decision to come not before March 2019.
Any parties interested in submitting an expression of interest are invited to contact Deloitte at: atpfinals2021@deloitte.co.uk.
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About the ATP
The ATP is the governing body of the men’s professional tennis circuits – the ATP World Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. With 64 tournaments in 31 countries, the ATP World Tour showcases the finest male athletes competing in the world’s most exciting venues. From Australia to Europe and the Americas to Asia, the stars of the 2018 ATP World Tour will battle for prestigious titles and ATP Rankings points at ATP World Tour Masters 1000, 500 and 250 events, as well as Grand Slams (non-ATP events). At the end of the season, only the world’s top 8 qualified singles players and doubles teams will qualify to compete for the last title of the season at the Nitto ATP Finals. Held at The O2 in London, the event will officially crown the 2018 ATP World Tour No. 1. For more information, please visit http://www.ATPWorldTour.com.
About the Nitto ATP Finals
The Nitto ATP Finals is the year-end climax to the men’s professional tennis season, featuring only the world’s best eight qualified singles players and doubles teams as they battle it out for the last title of the season. Players compete for ATP Rankings points throughout the season in a bid to earn one of the eight coveted berths and a chance to win the biggest indoor tennis tournament in the world. Played using a round-robin format, each player plays three matches as they compete for a berth in the knockout semi-finals and beyond. The prestigious tournament has been contested in major cities around the world with a rich history dating back to the birth of The Masters in 1970 in Tokyo. Since 2000 the event has taken place in cities such as Lisbon, Sydney, and Shanghai. In 2009 the tournament was moved to London, where it will be played through 2020. For more information, please visit http://www.NittoATPFinals.com.
SOURCE: ATP
