Korean automobile manufacturer Kia Motors has extended its role as the main sponsor of the Australian Open tennis tournament through to 2018.
Like Kia, Australian wine producer and associate sponsor Jacob’s Creek has signed on for a further five years, while Hisense join the Australian Open as its official supplier of TVs.
The international electronics brand will provide in excess of 1,000 televisions on-site during the 2014 tournament.
As the Australian Open’s major sponsor, Kia is the only company in the grand slam competition’s top tier of sponsorship, followed by Jacob’s Creek and its fellow associate sponsors ANZ and Rolex.
Kia’s extension with the first of the four annual grand slam events comes at the same time as Tennis Australia’s announcement that the prize fund for the 2014 Australian Open will be A$33m (€23.1m/$30.8m) – an increase of A$3m on the 2013 figure.
Men’s champion Novak Djokovic and women’s counterpart Victoria Azarenka will defend their singles titles in Melbourne this coming January.