Coca-Cola teams up with International Premier Tennis League as Title Sponsor

New Delhi: As people across the world draw closer to experiencing tennis’ most iconic stars in action in the sports’ latest and most exciting spectacle, the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) today welcomed Coca-Cola, the world’s largest beverage company into the IPTL family as Title Sponsor of the highly anticipated tennis League. Coca-Cola’s association with the event is in line with its commitment to promote sports and create a future generation of sports enthusiasts in the world. This emanates from the company’s long standing association with major sporting events ranging from the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup and NASCAR to NBA and NCAA.

IPTL, featuring current and former ATP and WTA players in its inaugural season from 28 November until 13 December 2014, will bring the excitement of the league format to a sport followed by millions across the world. In its quicker and more exciting format that’s never been seen before, the League will ‘Break the Code’ of the traditional etiquette of tennis in the world. First time features such as time-outs, Happiness PowerPoints, shoot-outs, a running shot clock and exciting live in-game entertainment will be an essential part of all matches. Tennis’ traditional scoring format has been changed to single-set no-add scoring, which will speed up the games and enable the fans to experience up to 24 different players in one exhilarating evening.

In its capacity as Title Sponsor, Coca-Cola will be undertaking a series of interesting initiatives to engage with tennis fans across the globe. These include a special promotion to select three lucky fans to be the ‘Coin Toss’ boys/girls for three matches. Embracing innovation at the IPTL, Coca-Cola will make matches even more interesting by adopting IPTL’s special competition feature called the “Happiness PowerPoint”. This feature will allow each team to call for a Happiness PowerPoint once in each single-set match. Upon winning the point, a player trailing 15-0 will directly get to 15-30 by winning the ‘Happiness PowerPoint’ and lose a point upon losing the ‘Happiness PowerPoint’. In case the score is tied at the end of five single-set matches, a 7 point men's singles Shoot-out will be played and the result will count as a game point won.

Talking about the association, Mr. Debabrata Mukherjee, Vice President, Marketing and Commercial, Coca-Cola India said, “We are really excited about our association with IPTL. Coca-Cola has always been a huge supporter to the cause of sport and we feel this partnership will further catalyze our efforts to promote Healthy, Active Lifestyles by further enhancing a sporting culture in India. Our purpose of associating with the IPTL is twofold. On one hand, it will allow millions of passionate tennis fans to enjoy their favorite sport and also witness some of the world’s most iconic tennis stars display their skills. On the other, and more importantly, this initiative will serve as a perfect platform to launch a 'Culture of Tennis’ in India. The initiative will provide great impetus to the youngsters of today who will get inspired by some of the worlds most accomplished and inspirational tennis stars to take up the sport”.

He further added, “We feel that there could not have been a better time to host the IPTL in the country. The excitement is palpable, considering that India has been witnessing series of great performances by Indian tennis stars. I visualize some great years ahead for Tennis in India”.

Mahesh Bhupathi on behalf of IPTL said, “I welcome Coca-Cola to the IPTL family today. We're excited to present the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League to the growing base of tennis enthusiasts across the world and look forward to providing to them superior recognition and visibility among fans internationally.”

Coca-Cola and IPTL have joined hands to create an event, which will fulfill the increasing demand for top-level tennis in Asia and the Middle East. It will be a professional team tennis competition featuring the best current and past champions across 4 countries. Starting with Philippines, it will travel to Singapore then India, followed by the grand finale in Dubai. In its inaugural season, the multi-million dollar tennis league will feature top stars such as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and others playing for four franchises in the India, Singapore, Philippines and the UAE. The star-studded teams - Micromax Indian ‘Aces’, Singapore ‘Slammers’, Manila ‘Mavericks’, and the UAE ‘Royals’ - include 21 Glam Slam Champions and 14 current and former World Number Ones.