Spanish energy firm Iberdrola has been named as a commercial partner of tennis’ Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup women’s national teams competition.
Through a tie-up unveiled earlier today (November 3) by the governing International Tennis Federation (ITF), Iberdrola is now the tournament’s official energy partner. The deal has been announced a few days in advance of the start of this year’s BJK Cup Finals, which are taking place in Seville, Spain, between November 7 (Tuesday) and 12.
Iberdrola adds the BJK Cup to a sports sponsorship portfolio that already includes the Spanish team in that competition (as well as a specific player, Paula Badosa), the Spanish Olympic and Paralympic committees, and the country’s national soccer team. In total, it is a sponsor of 32 Spanish national federations.
The Billie Jean King Cup was rebranded from its previous incarnation of the Fed Cup in 2020 and this year’s finals tournament marks the 60th anniversary of the inaugural event.
The nations involved in this year’s finals are Switzerland, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Poland, Slovenia, Spain (looking to win the event for a sixth time), and the US.
Global sponsors of the event include Gainbridge (title sponsor), Tory Burch, Microsoft, and Magellan.
In August, TWG Global, the holding company of billionaire businessman Mark Walter, secured a 49% stake in the tournament.
David Haggerty, president of the ITF, said: “We have been impressed with Iberdrola’s commitment to supporting women and girls in sport. We are grateful to Iberdrola for its investment in our competition, which will enable us to continue to raise the profile of the Billie Jean King Cup around the world.”
The TWG investment into the BJK Cup saw the firm acquire 49% of a newly created commercial entity called Billie Jean King Cup Limited, with the new venture set up to sell sponsorship, broadcast, and other commercial rights to the competition alongside Billie Jean King Enterprises (BJKE), the investment vehicle focused on women’s sports founded by King and led by her wife Ilana Kloss.
Switzerland won last year’s finals, beating Australia 2-0.
