United States Professional Tennis Association 2016 uspta division/State Request for Proposals

This request for proposal supplies information needed by a vendor to put forth an application to host and operate USPTA tournament during 2016, under the guidelines and restrictions of the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA). The selected vendor(s) will work in cooperation with the USPTA as an extension of the sports marketing component of the USPTA. The following information should serve as a template for all tournaments to ensure uniformity among tournament hosts.

The USPTA is a nonprofit organization. Its purpose is to raise the standards of teaching tennis as a profession; to grow participation and lifetime enthusiasm for the game of tennis; and to do all acts in accordance with such purposes or to effect any other purposes that may be determined from time to time by the Association.

In conjunction with the USPTA Surface Championships (The USPTA Indoor Championships; The USPTA Hard Court Championships; The USPTA Clay Court Championships; and The USPTA Grass Court Championships), the USPTA will sanction a series of USPTA Division and or State tournaments. These tournaments will represent an event held on any of the four surfaces – Indoor, Clay, Hardcourt or Grass and be represented as a USPTA Division or State Championship and will be known as: The USPTA (Division or State) Indoor Championships; The USPTA (Division or State) Hard Court Championships; The USPTA (Division or State) Clay Court Championships; and The USPTA (Division or State) Grass Court Championships. Vendors may bid as a host site for one or more of these USPTA Division or State championships and be awarded the bid to conduct and operate a turnkey tournament. USPTA Tournaments are open to USPTA Professionals in good standing only. Vendors may run their respective events to produce revenue as long as the minimum requirements listed below are met.

Each tournament is required to use USPTA Prince Balls. It is strongly encouraged that the tournament vendor use USPTAPlayer.com as the tournament management program and NetKnacks as the trophy supplier (if trophies/awards will be given). The necessary training to use USPTAPlayer.com will be provided by the USPTA. USPTA will provide national advertising for all tournaments through advertisements in Tennis Industry/ADDvantage magazine and utilizing member email blasts. The USPTA will not be responsible for any debts incurred by a USPTA sanctioned tournament and will only provide the services outlined in this request for proposal.

All requests for proposals should be mailed to: USPTA World Headquarters, 3535 Briarpark Drive, Suite 202, Houston, TX 77042 and sent to the attention of USPTA Tournament & Rankings Committee. In lieu of mailing the proposal, proposals may be sent electronically (PDF or Word Document) to the current USPTA Tournament and Rankings Committee Chairman – Dan Moster, USPTA - danmoster@usptapro.com 260-249-9424. All proposals must be received by the USPTA or Committee Chairman by December 31, 2015. Proposals received after the deadline will be at risk of not having their application accepted.

It is at the discretion of the USPTA Division or State Championships vendor to whether or not prize money will be awarded. If a tournament elects to award prize money, a distribution of prize money must be presented based on the minimum dollar amounts set forth in the tournament sanction proposal. Prize money for an event that does not make should be awarded to an alternative event(s) that is offered.

The selected venue for a tournament will have a minimum of four (4) courts of the selected surface at the home site of the host facility. There must be sufficient viewing areas and seating for spectators and one court must be designated as a “stadium court.” It is understood that the stadium court will feature the premier matches of the tournament and be decorated with banners representing USPTA national endorsees. Each venue must offer locker rooms, shower facilities and hospitality for the competitors of the tournament. (A city park facility could be an exception). There must be an area to prominently display the event draws of the tournament and each venue must have available a public address system. A tournament desk/headquarters must be designated. A sufficient number of practice courts and practice times must be made available to the competitors at no additional cost to them (practice courts may be off site).

Each vendor must select a host hotel that is no more than 20 minutes from the host site. Tournament competitors should have a negotiated preferred room rate available to them. Preference will be given to request for proposals that offer shuttle service from the tournament hotel to the tournament site.

Each vendor must include a hospitality package for competitors to include a minimum of tournament favors and a players’ party(s). USPTA Professional Development (Continuing Education) could also be an integral part of the tournament. Providing trophies and additional prizes/participation gifts is at the discretion of the Vendor. As stated above, the tournament vendor is encouraged to purchase trophies/awards through NetKnacks (a USPTA endorsee).

Tournaments will be held during the 2016 calendar year and must be complete by July 3, 2016. Tournament dates for events not holding qualifying rounds should last no more than three days and should include a Saturday or Sunday. This will allow competitors to take advantage of weekend travel and will facilitate the majority of players being away from their own work facilities for a single weekend.

Each tournament will represent the USPTA as the presenting sponsor of the tournament. An example of a tournament name would be: The “Title Sponsor” USPTA “Division” Championships presented by the United States Professional Tennis Association. Title sponsors, banner sponsors or any other type of sponsor or tournament endorsee must not conflict with the existing USPTA national endorsees and USPTA. USPTA reserves the right to approve any and all sponsors and endorsees of each tournament. The stadium court must feature banners of all existing USPTA national endorsees and include banner representation of the USPTA.

A standard entry fee will be charged for all USPTA Division/State Championships. The entry fee amount is at the discretion of the Vendor and should include singles and doubles. All entry fees will be collected by the Vendor.

Each tournament must offer, at the very least, the following events:

Men’s Singles – Open, 35, 45, 55, 65
Men’s Doubles – Open, 45, 55, 65
Women’s Singles – Open, 35, 45
Women’s Doubles – Open, 45

These events will be offered during the 2016 USPTA Masters Invitational and played during the USPTA World Conference. *Each USPTA Division/State Championships may offer additional events, at the Vendor/Tournament Director’s discretion. An event with a minimum of four entries must be held. Round robin play is encourage, whenever it is an option. Every effort must be made to offer alternative options for players to play, if the event they have registered for will not make. As much advanced notice as possible should be given to the players effected.
Tournament Points – Divisional/State Tournaments

(USPTA certified members only) Count towards qualifying for 2016 USPTA Masters Invitational

Each vendor must submit a proposal packet to include a Fact Sheet (Exhibit I), Title sponsor package (Exhibit II), Banner sponsor package (Exhibit III), Prize money distribution (Exhibit IV), if applicable, and a Revenue and expense sheet (Exhibit V). These exhibits follow as samples.

• 
  “Association” refers to the United States Professional Tennis Association.
  
• 
  “Event” refers to one competitive component of a tournament. Those components include: men’s open singles, men’s open doubles, women’s open singles, women’s open doubles, men’s 45 singles, men’s 45 doubles, women’s 45 singles and women’s 45 doubles.
  
• 
  “Open” refers to eligibility of applicants for that particular event. All age levels are eligible.
  
• 
  “45” refers to the eligibility of applicants for that particular event. Applicants may turn age 45 during the month of the tournament date or any applicant 45 and older.
  
• 
  “Turnkey” refers to the vendor being responsible for all expenses and liabilities associated with the tournament.
  
• 
  “Tournament” refers to one of the surface tournaments.
  
• 
  “Make” refers to having a minimum of four entries in an event and therefore conducting the event.
  
• 
  “Draw” refers to the number of competitors in the event and their competition schedule.
  
• 
  “Seeds” refers to the players with the best playing records or abilities, as determined by the tournament seeding committee, placed in predetermined positions in the draw.
  
• 
  “Stadium court” refers to the premier court with the most seating and viewing area available to spectators and decorated with all tournament sponsor banners.
  
• 
  “Division (Southwest)” “State” (Illinois) refers to the specific USPTA Division or State within a USPTA Division.
  

1. 
   Your company’s name and logo will be displayed courtside throughout the championships on two (2) 4′ x 10′ banners and will be visible for any possible TV coverage and award presentation.
   

2. 
   Your company will receive eight (8) invitations to the players’ party at the Cincinnati Tennis Center on Saturday, May 10, 7 p.m.
   

3. 
   Your company will have eight (8) spots in the pro-am event for executive use or VIP clients.
   

4. 
   Your company will receive a full-page ad in the tournament brochure and your company name on the tournament entry applications.
   

5. 
   Your company’s name and logo will be carefully designed into the tournament T-shirt design.
   

6. 
   Your company will receive exposure through numerous publications: Net News (Atlanta circulation of 90,000), Tennis (national circulation), Tennis Industry/ADDvantage magazine (national circulation), USPTA division newsletters (representing 17 divisions covering the United States).
   

1. 
   Your company’s name and logo will be displayed courtside throughout the championships on a 2′ x 8′ or 3′ x 6′ banner.
   

2. 
   Your company will receive two (2) invitations to the players’ party at the Cincinnati Tennis Center on Saturday, May 10, 7 p.m.
   

3. 
   Your company will have one (1) spot in the pro-am event for executive use or VIP clients.
   

4. 
   Your company will receive a quarter-page ad in the tournament brochure (camera-ready art should be provided).
   

5. 
   Your company’s name and logo will be printed on the very visible USPTA Midwest Championships T-shirt.