The multiplier effect the annual Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship is having in the life of the people of Lagos State and the government have been the reasons successive governments have given the facilitating support for the organisation of the pro circuit competition.
Mr Deji Tinubu, Special Adviser on Sports to the Governor of Lagos State made this known during the press conference to herald the 17th edition of the International Tennis Federation (ITF)) approved competition in Lagos on Tuesday.
Tinubu, who is also the chairman of Lagos State Sports Commission, said that government sees that the tournament always adds values to the society through its potentiality to boost the image of Lagos State to the outside world, adding that with the influx of foreign players to play in the Governor’s Cup every year, the number of visitors coming to the state have been on the increase, which in the long run exposes the state to the world.
“The Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship has been projecting the image of Lagos State to the world positively and we are happy that the competition has also improved tremendously over the years. The Governor sees this event as a way of attracting the state to the world and the support from us will continue.
“I want to commend the vision behind this and those who have been organising it over the years. It has been the only sports competition organised uninterrupted in the last 17 years. This is a great feat we must all celebrated, ” Tinubu said.
Meanwhile, organisers of the Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship have said that they have raised the bar of the pro circuit competition to the level that it has become a household name in the world of tennis.
Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), Chief Pius Akinyelure said at a media conference to herald the 17th edition of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) approved competition in Lagos that the Governor’s Cup standard has been raised to the level that it has become the most sought after Futures tournament in world tennis circles.
This year’s Governor’s Cup Lagos Tennis Championship holds from 6-21 October at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan.
According to Akinyelure, the LOC in conjunction with the Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF), the technical owner of the event, have record to show for the claims.
“Entries, particularly foreign entries have been unusually high this year. The reason is not unconnected with the facts that the competition has become a household names in the world today. Of the 73 Futures Tournaments in the whole world this month of October, 2017, only two in America, two in Italy, one in Spain, Sweden, France and Kazakistan match the 100,000 dollars prize money of the Governor’s Cup. Even those Futures just mentioned do not have hospitality thrown in as as a bonus as we have with Governor’s Cup, ” Akinyelure explained.
On funding, the LOC boss said that ” some of our dependable traditional sponsors are still with us. We have the likes of Deux Projects, CCECC Nig. Limited LASACO Assurance PLC, Julius Berger PLC, PLYCON Nig PLC and others. New sponsors are on the horizon. However, we have started exploring new avenues of funding, such as bookings and tickets sale for matches., media rights for live broadcast on Radio, Television, Cable, merchandising and franchise rights for a plethora of souvenirs and commercial branding of events and facilities. These measures are in line with global best practices in the organisation of Sports of this nature and calibre. “
The tickets for the Governor’s Cup are available on the platforms of Ariya Tickets and Naija Tickets Shop. The tickets come in different categories. While Category 1 regular ticket goes for N1,500 each, the VIP category goes for N5,000 each.