Racquet Club scores an ace with tennis fans
At least 20% of this year's clientele have already pre-booked their VIP tickets for 2015, says WSG
Lee U-Wen
Singapore
FOR many members of Corporate Singapore, the recent BNP Paribas Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Finals tournament wasn't only about the tennis action on the courts.
Before each of the competition's 11 sessions at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, hundreds of guests networked and mingled in an adjacent luxury pavilion where they also dined on meals whipped up by celebrity chefs and sipped flutes of champagne.
Many players including Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki and legends like Chris Evert and Billie Jean King visited the two-storey, glass-fronted building - named the Racquet Club - during the week-long event.
A ticket for this premium hospitality experience cost as much as S$850 per session, and the World Sport Group (WSG) - the Singapore-based sports marketing company that conceptualised the Racquet Club - said that 95 per cent of the entire inventory of 7,700 was taken up.
The US$6.5 million tournament - the first of five editions that Singapore will host annually at the Sports Hub until 2018 - ended a fortnight ago on Oct 26 with Williams, the American world No 1 player, as the champion.
Even though there are still 11 months to go until next year's WTA Finals, WSG is already getting calls from firms wanting to secure their tickets to the Racquet Club in 2015.
At least 20 per cent of the companies who bought passes this year have already pre-booked their tickets for 2015, said Adrian Staiti, vice-president of global partnerships and stadiums & arenas at WSG.
Nearly all, or 98 per cent, of the bookings this year were from corporations in sectors such as finance, real estate, oil & gas and shipping. Some companies entertained as many as 800 guests over the course of the tournament.
They consumed 10,000 meals and downed 3,000 bottles of Moet & Chandon champagne. During the matches, more than 8,000 guests also made use of their Racquet Club passes to enter the Aces Lounge, an exclusive free-flow bar inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
"From the beginning, we set ourselves a very high benchmark to deliver a bespoke hospitality product befitting of the WTA's crown jewel season-ending tournament," said Mr Staiti, adding that his team met various clients several months ahead of the tournament to discuss and design everything from the menu and wines to the decor and suite fittings.
"The positive feedback we have received has been very encouraging, and we are looking forward to enhancing various elements next year, including introducing new features that will elevate the entire Racquet Club experience," he said.
As far as the actual tennis tournament was concerned, Mr Staiti said that WSG secured a total of 24 sponsors for this inaugural edition of the WTA Finals, the first time that it was held in an Asia-Pacific city.
Local luxury property developer SC Global Developments has inked a deal to be the event's presenting sponsor until 2018. Among the other Singapore companies onboard as sponsors are Marina Bay Sands, StarHub, Singapore Airlines, Lorenzo and Gleneagles Hospital.
Mr Staiti also said that the S$1.3 billion Singapore Sports Hub project has a total of 17 sponsors to date, led by premier founding partner OCBC Bank which last year inked a 15-year naming rights deal worth over S$50 million. WSG is the Sports Hub's exclusive commercial partner.
He added that more regional and local brands are integrating sport into their marketing efforts these days, with many latching onto the opportunities available in sport's far-reaching platforms to engage with their target audiences.
"We are thrilled that the corporate community in Asia has really embraced the vision for sport, especially in Singapore, and as a result, are continuing to derive tangible brand value and equity for their companies," he said.
