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Deal with Eye Group Ended
Feb 6, 2002 by Ron Beck © 2002 SquashTalk, may not be reproduced without express permission.
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Posted Feb 6, 2002
PSA Terminates Relationship with the Eye Group
A grand relationship which was to have led to increased exposure for squash on TV and larger tournament purses has ended without fanfare, reliable sources in the UK reported to SquashTalk yesterday.
A formal announcement is expected from the PSA as early as today or tomorrow.
The multi-year twenty milion dollar deal which the PSA signed with great fanfare about a year ago had effectively fizzled out when the Eye Group failed to uphold its sponsorship commitments at last October's Melbourne World Open event. The Eye Group squash website (EyeSquash.com) went "dead" about a month ago.
The Eye Group, whose main area of expertise was TV production and promotion of sports events, had succeeded in bringing Squash live on TV in Europe. Coverage of the 2000 and 2001 British Open and the 2001 Superseries Finals on Sky TV were all partially attributable to efforts by the Eye Group, both to improve the professionalism of TV production of Squash Events, as well as through their connections throughout the broadcast industry.
However, where the Eye Group fell down was their inexperience in the world of professional sponsorship of events such as Professional Squash Tournaments. Since their management of the 1999 British Open in Aberdeen Scotland, the Eye Group had been largely unsuccessful in attracting outside sponsors for the events they controlled. They put in about $1.5 million of their own funds but were in the end unable to sustain the momentum in the absense of attracting complementary sponsors.
According to sources, the PSA board voted recently to formally terminate the Eye Group Agreement.
