The Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament has entered into an agreement with Super Slam to be acquired by global sports, events and talent management company, IMG.
The collaboration, which is expected to close early in 2022, sees the Madrid Trophy Promotion SLU become part of IMG, with MTP’s CEO and tournament director Gerard Tsobanian becoming Senior Vice President of Tennis Events.
Tsobanian and his team will continue to oversee the running of the tournament as part of IMG’s global tennis events division led by Gavin Forbes.
“The Mutua Madrid Open will be a strong addition to our global events portfolio and tennis business, which will now boast two of the three mandatory combined events on both tours,” commented Sam Zussman, Co-President of Media and Events, IMG.
“We’re looking forward to leveraging Endeavor’s broader network to further enhance the fan experience and add value across production, media, brand partnerships, retail, and hospitality, just as we’ve done with the Miami Open.”
The 20th anniversary edition of the tournament will take place in 2022 from 26 April – 8 May at Caja Mágica in Madrid.
Additionally, the acquisition also includes the support of the Acciona Open de España golf tournament – IMG’s golf events division. Founded in 1912, The Acciona Open de España (formerly the Spanish Open) typically takes place in October at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid where it is broadcast to around 120 countries.
Since Endeavor’s acquisition of IMG in 2014, the company has developed the Miami Open and in 2019, moved the tournament to Hard Rock Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins.
The deal adds to IMG’s portfolio of sports ownerships/producing rights such as the WGC-HSBC golf tournament and the Professional Bull Riders organisation.
Earlier this year, the company also extended its broadcasting rights agreement with the Giro d’Italia cycling tournament for a further five years.
The Giro is one of cycling’s three grand tours, and the renewed agreement granted IMG both live coverage as well as highlights rights.
