Davis Cup TV snub
LENDL RYAN
23Feb08
TOWNSVILLE'S Davis Cup tie has faulted before a ball has even been served after event broadcaster
Channel Seven revealed it won't telecasting the fixture.
The decision had left Tennis Australia and organisers scrambling to find a replacement network, or risk losing out on millions of dollars worth of exposure for the sport and Townsville.
"Under Channel Seven's contract they don't have to telecast a tie which is not in the world group, which this isn't, it's back in the zone group, so they are quite within their rights to not telecast it," a Tennis Australia spokesperson said yesterday.
"There may be another network which can pick the tie up which we are now in the process of negotiating.
"Our broadcast team should come to a decision in the next few weeks."
The event, scheduled for April 11 to 13 at the Townsville Entertainment Centre, would feature the cream of Australian men's tennis, led by Lleyton Hewitt, taking on Thailand.
It was expected to inject more than $5 million into the city.
Independent council candidate Doug Kingston, who was instrumental in securing Townsville's last taste of Davis Cup action in 1998, said a lack of television coverage would be a `massive setback' to the region.
"What it does is rob Townsville of million of dollars of free publicity," he said.
"When we made the bid for the event, in the back of our minds was not only that we would get the best tennis players here for people to see, but that we would get some exposure as well."
Mr Kingston recalled the enormous boost the event gave the region 10 years ago.
"Channel Seven did a fantastic job showcasing the city," he said.
"Before the start of play and between matches on the Friday and Sunday when there were two singles, they had travel-like features on Townsville and Magnetic Island.
"Those free travel pieces showed Townsville in a very good light and you couldn't put a value on that exposure, but I would expect it would cost millions.
"Personally, I had phone calls from friends and relatives all over Australia saying they had seen it."
Townsville aced strong competition from Wollongong and Newcastle to secure next April's tie, becoming one of just a few Australian cities to host the international event twice.
Tickets were snapped up fast, including all 32 corporate boxes.
Townsville Tennis president Vic Bayer said residents unable to secure a seat and young players hoping to watch their idols in action would be the big losers.
"It would be nice to have the television exposure because we are expecting tickets to be sold out and a lot of people won't be able to get a seat and without TV they won't see it at all," he said.
"It's also disappointing because we were hoping to use the event as a way of getting tennis a bit more exposure and lifting the profile in the region.
"When an event like this comes along people get interested and they take the sport up along with their children and without TV to generate that interest it's disappointing."
