ST. PETERSBURG, FL, USA - The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has announced two new advancements in the digital space: a new mobile WAP site available to fans through their mobile handsets and dedicated to providing tennis fans around the world up-to-date information and unique women's tennis content, and the Spanish language version of the Tour's official website, which will join the Tour's existing websites in English and Chinese. The Tour's digital innovations and enhancements are designed to engage fans worldwide in the online space in a new fashion, stretch the borders of the world's most global sport and bring women's tennis even closer to the world's four billion mobile users and 330 million native Spanish speakers. Both the WAP and Spanish sites were built and will be hosted by the Tour's world-class digital partner Perform.
"The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is thrilled to offer the savvy global fans of women's tennis two new platforms through which they can stay connected to the sport and its stars anytime, anywhere, and in multiple languages," Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, said about Thursday's launches. "With billions of mobile users worldwide, it is a natural extension for the Tour to create a deeper level of engagement and interaction with our fans and literally place the sport in the palms of their hands."
"It is very exciting to see the Tour creating new ways to reach and engage with our fans," said Anabel Medina Garrigues, the most successful Spanish player on the Tour in recent years. "Speaking to fans in their native language and via mobile phones will help us grow the sport globally."
WAP site: http://m.sonyericssonwtatour.com
The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has launched a mobile website that fans can download to their mobile handsets by going to the WAP URL. A core element of the Tour's mobile and digital media strategy, the new WAP site encompasses the best of the Tour's official website and provides tennis fans with a broad range of content options such as live scores from all 53 Tour tournaments and four Grand Slams; weekly rankings updates; player profiles; rolling news; video match highlights; player features and wallpapers; daily photo galleries and information on the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships - Doha 2010. Fresh and fun new features such as recorded messages from players, games, picture puzzles and animations of Tour stars are also in the pipeline. The official Tour WAP site will connect fans around the world with their favorite sport and its stars at the push of a phone button.
Spanish-language official website: www.sonyericssonwtatour.es
To capitalize on the global popularity of women's tennis and the number of internet users that speak Spanish, the Tour has launched a Spanish language version of its official website. The new site will include most of the elements available on the English version of the Tour's official home such as weekly rankings updates, player profiles and statistics, latest news from the Tour, live match scores, player blogs and video highlights via Video on Demand presented by Dubai Duty Free. This vibrant video platform houses more than 820 new and archived videos of match highlights, player interviews and off-court color features. The Spanish language site will provide both a richer and more personalized experience for the current fan base and offer new fans of women's tennis high quality engagement and interaction in their native language. The Tour features tournaments in numerous Spanish language destinations including Spain, Colombia and Mexico. Later this year, the Tour will launch a Russian language version of the official site.
Oliver Slipper, Joint-CEO of Perform commented: "The combination of providing regional specific sites and a WAP site shows that the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour really understands the requirements of the modern tennis fan. Fans expect to be able to stay in touch with all the news and highlights when and where they want it and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour is providing this service."
