Monday, July 27, 1998
Workers serve up tennis meet
PREPARATION: Year-long effort needed to produce one-week
Mercedes-Benz Cup at LATC
By Steve Kim
Daily Bruin Staff
The court is freshly repainted and all the booths are finished.
A whole side of a stadium stand has been erected from the ground
up.
By the time you come to the Mercedes-Benz Cup as a spectator,
everything will be ready to go, like clockwork. But have you ever
wondered who makes this clock tick? What goes on behind the scenes,
before the glamour and excitement of elite tennis tournaments? Who
operates the spotlight?
Tennis is the name of the game, and everyone works to make sure
that the sport takes center stage – but there are a lot of
sideshows and juggling acts that happen before the event.
"It’s virtually a year-round activity," said tournament director
Bob Kramer, who is one of several full-time staff members
specifically designated to organize the Los Angeles tournament.
"After we got done with last year’s tournament, we started right
away trying to sign up new players and so forth for this year," he
said.
Kramer and assistant tournament director Khim Stithem are
responsible for overseeing every aspect of the event. They’re also
the ones who meet with players’ agents and get them to commit to
Los Angeles for the week. They say serious talk starts around the
time of the U.S. Open, which is in late August.
"We’re fortunate because it’s a wonderful place to play, nice
time of year and the players have a very nice time when they come
to Los Angeles," said Stithem. "We’ve actually acquired a few
players for next year already."
And there are tons of other things that need just as much
attention. The full time staff focuses on marketing for sponsors,
ticket sales, general administration and operational and
promotional areas – all in all the efforts include about fifty
staff members and 500 volunteers.
Plus, UCLA provides venue and facilities management, which
includes parking and ticket offices. For that, the university gets
about 30 percent of the tournament proceeds.
Near the small yellow ball flying back and forth across the net,
you’ll see a lot of brand names, logos and promotional booths.
Sponsorship is a big deal in an event such as this, and it’s mainly
up to Julie Sternberg, the marketing director, to get as many
sponsors as she can.
Most of the time she says she makes cold calls to companies, and
they don’t always respond immediately in her favor.
"Sometimes it takes a couple of years to build a relationship
with a potential sponsor," Sternberg said. "We have them come out
to take a look at what we have here. They may not be a sponsor that
year, but we look to foster that relationship and hope that they’ll
come on board a couple of years down the road."
For providing financial assistance, corporate sponsors get their
company name out to spectators, viewers, listeners and readers who
follow the event. Sponsorship packages range from having a display
booth by the stadium to being part of the tournament media
advertising campaign.
For example, Mercedes-Benz is the biggest sponsor, thereby its
name and logo are branded as the tournament’s. As a major sponsor,
it gets major exposure every time the tournament is mentioned. And
like other big sponsors of the event, it receives tickets,
hospitality and other perks.
The organizers of this tournament go through a yearly cycle,
experiencing the busiest time starting a couple of months prior to
the actual event.
"And from then on, it gets busier," Kramer laughed. "Things
change to an operational mode about a week before the tournament
when the fences come down, court’s repainted and temporary
structures are brought in. Then, you feel like the circus has
arrived in town – and away we go."
The workload is in all the details – finalizing last minute
tidbits, from the officials to food service to ball kids. Did you
know that 5,400 tennis balls will be used here this week? How about
that three tons of fruit will be served to players? These are just
a few of the things organizers needed to cover.
"It’s one of those things where you watch the calendar go by and
say, ‘Oh my gosh, I only have so many weeks left!’" Stithem
said.
"But last week, I was feeling a sense of calm," she continued.
"We have things pretty much lined up and on track – at least, we
think we do. Things are going pretty well."
So the week they’ve been working on all year has finally
arrived. But they won’t be shining in the spotlight – maybe in
perspiration, but not in the spotlight. No, the spotlight goes to
the players, and the people who work behind the scenes are aware of
what an influence these athletes can have on southern California
tennis fans.
Besides improving upon the previous year’s tournament, the
organizers, who work in behalf of the tennis association, have a
goal to promote greater interest and participation in tennis.
"A live tennis match is one of those things which can really
energize people," Kramer said. "The kids, ball boys and fans are
getting an extra boost to their enthusiasm because it’s exciting to
see the best players out there performing like no others can. And
once they’re interested and want to pursue tennis, we’ll have all
the necessary developmental programs to follow through."
BAHMAN FARAHDEL/Daily Bruin
Norman Perry helps set up for the Mercedes-Benz Cup.