IEC in Sports has successfully renewed its contracts with the Heineken Open, PTT Thailand Open, BCR Open Romania and the Grand Prix Tennis de Lyon. All tournaments have been an integral part of the IEC in Sports calendar for many years and IEC is delighted to continue working with all four events in the future.

“Each of these events is extremely well organized which reflects in their high popularity amongst the top players every year”, said Jonas Persson, CEO of IEC in Sports. “We are very pleased to continue our relationship with the events and to build on the success that we have enjoyed in the past”.              

The PTT Thailand Open, which takes place in Bangkok, is one of Asia’s top tennis franchises. It has renewed and expanded its appointment of IEC as its exclusive worldwide broadcast distributor for a further 3 years. The BCR Open Romania is considered the most important international sporting event held in Romania. The tournament, staged in Bucharest, will also remain part of IEC’s Tennis offering for 2011-2013.

One of the most important preparatory tournaments for the Australian Open, the Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand, will also be distributed by IEC in Sports for another two years. This package of Tennis events which have successfully been renewed by IEC is completed by the Grand Prix Tennis de Lyon. It is the last ATP 250 event before the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London and for many players, one of the final opportunities to collect lucrative World Ranking points needed to qualify for this event.

“These renewals show IEC’s strength in the Tennis market and the confidence that organizers have in our company. We look forward to co-operating and to continuing to expand media awareness of these tremendous events,” said Anders Björkman, Head of Tennis Properties, IEC in Sports.
The agreement with the Heineken Open also includes the ASB Bank Classic which is held at the same venue in Auckland, New Zealand. This high profile event on the WTA calendar, is the country's richest professional women's sporting event. It has attracted players of the highest caliber and produced champions such as Yanina Wickmayer (2010), Elena Dementieva (2009), Lindsay Davenport (2008), Jelena Jankovi? (2007) and Marion Bartoli (2006).