Jan. 29, 2018
San José, Calif.----- Starting in July 2018 at the brand new San José State University Tennis Complex, the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic will be the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) Northern California/Bay Area summer destination. Marie Tuite, San José State University's director of athletics; IMG, an Endeavor company; and the Mubadala (Moo-bah-dah-lah) Investment Company, a pioneer in strategic global investments, jointly made the announcement.
This year's first stop in the five-tournament U.S. Open Series is July 30 to August 5 and is the leadoff event to the U.S. Open Championship in New York.
In a five-year, minimum $1.5-million deal, IMG rental fees will fund the construction of a custom stadium court for 4,000 fans and a state-of-the-art building housing locker rooms, a players' lounge and coaches' offices.
SAN JOSÉ STATE AS A VENUE FOR PREMIER SPORTS & ATHLETICS EVENTS
Conveniently located less than one mile south of Interstate 280's Seventh and 10th street exits and a seven-minute drive from downtown San José, the SJSU Tennis Complex opened in December 2017 and presently consists of six USTA-approved (United States Tennis Association) illuminated outdoor courts. Future plans include adding six covered courts to the Tennis Complex.
Tournament players and officials also will have access to San José State's conveniently located athletics facilities at its South Campus. More than 1,000 parking spaces less than a quarter-mile walk to the San José State University Tennis Complex will be available to spectators for world-class championship tennis.
"Northern California is known for its outstanding tennis at all levels and its support of professional tennis tournaments. It will be a privilege to host a world-class event like the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic. We look forward to hosting some of the elite women's tennis players in the world at our new Tennis Complex with the same hospitality, energy and service as when we hosted the Carolina Panthers for Super Bowl 50 and Lionel Messi and the Argentina national men's soccer team for Copa Americano 2016," says Tuite about the long-term agreement to host top women's players in the world for a week.
"When we met with San José State, we could tell right away that they would be more than a venue, but a partner that was willing to invest and help us grow the event," said Vickie Gunnarsson, tournament director of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
First played in 1971 and most recently at Stanford University's Taube Family Tennis Stadium, the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic is a WTA Premier event and is the longest running women's-only professional tennis tournament. The Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic is owned and operated by IMG, and features a 28-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw. Total prize money is $776,000.
Past champions Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters combined for 28 of the 47 Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic singles championships.
For Mubadala, the WTA event at San José State expands the company's robust sponsorship portfolio in the tennis world. The Mubadala World Tennis Championship, now in its 10th year, is a December men's tennis international event held in Abu Dhabi. Mubadala is a host level sponsor of the Rio Open, an ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) 500 event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil each February.
"Mubadala is proud to sponsor this tournament, which has such a tremendous heritage in the Bay Area and women's tennis," said Nadine Saleh Hassan, senior vice-president for communications at Mubadala. "Silicon Valley is associated with innovation and great thinking, and we want to play a part in keeping such a championship-level sporting event in this area for fans and players alike."
During the week of the tournament, there will be a variety of outreach initiatives including grassroots youth tennis clinics.
"IMG has a long-standing global relationship with Mubadala and we're looking forward to leveraging their expertise in technology and innovation to raise the entertainment value for our fans," said WME and IMG Co-President Mark Shapiro. "Mubadala's commitment to the growth of tennis makes the company an ideal partner for us."
Ticket information for the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at the San José State University Tennis Complex will be announced in the near future.
ABOUT SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY
The founding campus of the 23-campus California State University system, San José State provides a comprehensive university education, granting bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in 250 areas of study -- offered through its eight colleges. With more than 32,000 students and nearly 4,370 employees, San José State University continues to be an essential partner in the economic, cultural and social development of Silicon Valley and the state, annually contributing 10,000 graduates to the workforce. The university is immensely proud of the accomplishments of its more than 260,000 alumni, 60 percent of whom live and work in the Bay Area.
ABOUT SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
San José State University sponsors 20 (seven men's and 13 women's) NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports programs for approximately 470 student-athletes annually. In football, the Spartans are a member of Division I's Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the NCAA's highest level of competition. The Spartans' primary conference affiliation is with the Mountain West. Selected teams belong to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and the Golden Coast Conference (GCC). San José State has 10 NCAA team championships and 52 NCAA individual titles. Sixty-two (62) Spartans competed in one or more Olympic Games. San José State athletes have won seven gold, six silver and seven bronze medals at the Olympics. Annually, about one-third of the student-athlete population earns either an institutional, conference or national recognition based on outstanding academic performance.
ABOUT SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY TENNIS
Women's tennis is one of San José State University's 20 NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports programs. The Spartans are the defending Mountain West champions; their second conference championship in the last five years. In that span, San José State was a nationally-ranked team in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) rankings twice and had two singles players and two doubles pairs in the final ITA player national rankings.
Historically, the program attracts student-athletes from California and European and Asian countries seeking an outstanding college education and the opportunity to play high-level American college tennis. Every year since 2012, San José State received one of the ITA's national All-Academic team awards for maintaining a team cumulative grade-point average over a 3.20 on a 4.00 scale.
San José State's men's program was discontinued after the 1997 season. The Spartans produced national collegiate singles champions in 1952 and 1959 and Davis Cup players for the United States, Canada, Brazil and Mexico. Between 1956 and 1980, San José State had 10 top-25 nationally-ranked teams and won eight conference championships.