Pilot Pen Withdraws from Tournament

If you plan to go to the Pilot Pen tennis tournament in the summer of 2011, it won't be called the Pilot Pen. New Haven's premiere sporting event is losing its title sponsor. 

Pilot Pen will end its 15-year run as sponsor of the ATP Tennis tournament at the Connecticut Tennis Center after the 2010 event, tournament director Anne Worcester said on Tuesday. 

Pilot Pen began its relationship with the tournament in 1996, taking over for Volvo, which had been the title sponsor from the event's start in New Haven  in 1990.

The tournament is looking for a new sponsor for the 2011 tournament and beyond after Pilot Pen pulled out, citing economic reasons. 

“We have enjoyed being the title sponsor of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament,” Dennis Burleigh, President and CEO of Pilot Pen Corporation of America, said in a news release. “Unfortunately, the economic recession has severely impacted our consumers and the office products industry in particular, necessitating this difficult decision.”

“We firmly believe that Pilot Pen Corporation’s long-term support of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament has helped us grow the sport of tennis in the Northeast and put us in a solid position to attract a new title sponsor,” Worcester said in a news release.

When Pilot Pen arrived as title sponsor, the event was a men's tournament only, but it has since become one of the few men's and women's combined events outside of the four majors.  

“This tournament has developed into an entertainment event featuring some of the world’s best professional tennis players as well as many off-court events which have expanded our reach to all types of fans. A combined men’s and women’s tournament is a very desirable sports property and will appeal to national and regional partners alike,” Worcester said in the release.

Still, the news that the tournament that has called New Haven home for nearly 20 years is losing a sponsor without having another in place, is undoubtedly upsetting, especially in an economy that hasn't seen many big companies spending money on sporting events.

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