AIG to end U.S. Davis Cup sponsorship

Insurance giant AIG is out after nearly a decade as the main U.S. Davis Cup sponsor, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Thursday.

American International Group Inc. will not renew its contract when it expires at year’s end, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement was planned.

With AIG serving as the U.S. Tennis Association’s only year-round, national sponsor for Davis Cup, the relationship has been worth millions of dollars since it began in 1999.

The sponsorship included promotional rights attached to the U.S. team, including an AIG patch on players’ warmup suits and TV advertising time.

Led by the former No. 1-ranked Andy Roddick, James Blake and twins Bob and Mike Bryan, the United States won the 2007 Davis Cup championship. The U.S. lost to Spain in the 2008 semifinals last month.

The end of the USTA-AIG link for Davis Cup is an initial example of the effect the current economic meltdown might have on tennis.

Like golf, tennis draws millions of dollars annually in sponsorship money from the insurance and financial industries, including naming rights for tournaments.

On the brink of failure in September, AIG—one of the world’s largest insurance companies—was bailed out when the government offered it an $85 billion loan. Then, on Oct. 8, the Federal Reserve agreed to provide another loan of up to $37.8 billion.

Many in the world of tennis—at the men’s and women’s professional tours, at individual tournaments, at players’ management agencies—are pleased to report there has not been a significant fallout from the economic crisis so far.

But they acknowledge they’re watching anxiously.

“We haven’t seen any impact yet,” WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott said in a recent interview. “I wouldn’t foreclose the possibility that we see some impact next year.”