No plans to sell Indian Wells, owners say
Thu 30 October, 2003 19:06
By Ossian Shine
LONDON, Oct 30 (Reuters) - The future of the Indian Wells Masters tournament is safe despite reports it is up for sale, the event's owners said on Thursday.
"We are not actively out there trying to sell our tournament... nor are our partners," Steve Simon of owners PM Sports told Reuters from the tournament's home in California.
"There is no intent by either partner right now to sell the tournament."
The event, one of the most prestigious and lucrative in the tennis calendar, is owned 50-50 by sports management company PM Sports and global sports management agency IMG.
This year, the men's tournament gave away prize money of $2.45 million while the women's event offers $585,000.
Rumours it could soon be up for sale resurfaced in recent weeks following IMG's decision last month to sell its $585,000 Scottsdale women's tournament to the Qatar Tennis Federation.
But Simon was adamant those reports were groundless.
The 2004 tournament sees an increase in the size of the men's draw from 64 to 96. In total, more than 250 ATP and WTA players will compete in the prestigious event over a two-week period from March 8-21, 2004, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, the tournament's website said.
The 2004 tournament will mark the event's 29th year as a men's championship and 16th as a women's. It is one of nine elite Tennis Masters Series events on the ATP circuit and a Tier I tournament on the WTA Tour.
The Indian Wells Tennis Garden stadium was built in 2000.
Despite the tournament not being for sale, Simon said that PM Sports was looking to sell land surrounding the stadium.
"When we bought this facility, we bought in excess of 180 acres," he said. "We are currently in the process of selling (some of) the land but we are not out there trying to sell the tournament."
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