China Open to pocket more than RMB100m

The China Open tennis tournament is expected to pocket more than RMB 100 million from sponsors, according to news released by Tencent Sports. 

The China Open announced that they have inked deals with a total of 12 sponsors in total at a signing ceremony held in Beijing on Sep.21, including deals as Principal Sponsor, three Diamond Sponsors and eight Platinum Sponsors. 

The financial terms were not disclosed officially, but Zhang Junhui, the Tournament Director of China Open, revealed that there are certain entry levels for those sponsors. The minimum investment levels for those three tier sponsors in each year are RMB 30 million, 15 million and 8 million respectively. Based on the conservative estimates, the total sum of money from those 12 sponsors will reach RMB 139 million.

The total prize money for the 2015 China Open has risen to $8.46 million US dollars (RMB 54 million). Zhang Junhui added that the prize money represents the biggest part of the overall operation costs. 

According to an insider, the total operating costs for the 2015 China Open will be around RMB 150 million.  

As a flagship tennis tournament in China, the 2015 China Open will be held from September 27 to October 11 in Beijing.

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick.