Corona Extra signs sponsorship deal with ATP

Corona Extra and the ATP have signed a 5½-year sponsorship agreement that makes the Mexican beer brand the top sponsor of the men's tennis tour.

A person with knowledge of the deal told the Associated Press it has a total expected value of about $70 million. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the sides agreed not to reveal financial terms.

The deal was to be announced formally Monday and should take effect by May. It makes Corona Extra the official beer sponsor of the tour and allows the company to put its logo on nets at about two-thirds of the ATP's 62 tournaments. The deal also involves other marketing rights.

The men's tennis tour has been searching for a main global backer since Mercedes-Benz ended its partnership when its contract with the ATP expired in 2008. The carmaker had been a leading sponsor since 1996.

ATP chief executive Adam Helfant called the new contract "a big win," saying that it "reflects the growing interest in the tour."

He also expects Corona Extra to help promote the sport.

"They're pretty savvy marketers, and we think they're going to bring new creativity and energy to our tour and to tennis in general," Helfant said in a telephone interview.

In September, he acknowledged that not having a tour-wide sponsor was "a hole" he needed to fill but said then the global economic turndown made it difficult to make progress.

The women's tennis tour has a global title sponsor deal with Sony Ericsson that is about to expire. The cell phone maker's $88 million, six-year deal with the WTA Tour was announced in January 2005.