American tennis network to film original content on-site and provide fans with “All-Access Pass”
Toronto, June 20, 2012 – Tennis Canada announced Wednesday that popular American tennis network, Tennis Channel, will be featured on-site during the 2012 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank. Tennis Channel will produce original content focusing on the Toronto tournament as well as provide an “All-Access Pass” to fans by airing exclusive Tennis Channel content on the video boards around the grounds.
“We are excited to welcome Tennis Channel to Canada as Rogers Cup now becomes the only place in the country where fans can access this one-of-a-kind tennis content,” said Karl Hale, tournament director, Rogers Cup Toronto. “We are always trying to listen to our fans, and our research says that more than half of our ticketholders would pay for a subscription to Tennis Channel if it were available in Canada. We thought this would be a great on-site enhancement while also helping to drive U.S. tourism.”
Tennis Channel will send a full production crew to Rogers Cup in Toronto to film fan-favourite segments such as “Bag Checks”, where the ATP World Tour’s top stars reveal a different side of their personalities by emptying out their tennis bags and sharing with fans the items they always keep by their side. Many of the players will be filmed on the tournament’s main stage in the middle of the grounds for fans to see. The network will also produce a 30-minute “Fans’ Guide” special about Rogers Cup Toronto which will be available online only at tenniscanada.com and aired repeatedly on the Tennis Channel to help drive U.S. tourism. As part of the partnership, Tennis Channel will also be pre-promoting this year’s Rogers Cup on their network which is viewed in millions of U.S. households.
“Rogers Cup is the crown jewel of Canadian tennis so there is no better place to showcase our unique programming to a new audience,” said David Egdes, Senior Vice President, Tennis Channel. “We are thrilled to be coming to Toronto to both highlight and participate in one of the premier events on the ATP World Tour while at the same time providing our brand of tennis entertainment to fans who otherwise wouldn’t have access to our network.”
In addition, Tennis Channel will show original content such as “One Minute Clinics”, “Fit to Hit”, “Tennis Channel Academy” and more exclusively on-site at Rogers Cup in Toronto as part of the “All-Access Pass”. Fans who attend Rogers Cup will see footage never-before-aired in Canada on the video boards around the grounds.
The funding necessary to bring Tennis Channel to Toronto was provided by the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport’s Celebrate Ontario program. Celebrate Ontario is an annual program designed to drive tourism and help boost the province’s economy. Rogers Cup presented by National Bank was awarded $350,000 from the program, a portion of which will go towards the fan enhancement of having Tennis Channel on-site.
Rogers Cup presented by National Bank will be held from August 4-12 at Rexall Centre in Toronto. For tickets or more information visit www.rogerscup.com.
