Insurance broker ATL Marine & Energy has netted a major winner by spending the travel and entertainment expenses it has saved during lockdown on sports sponsorship for up-and-coming stars.
Last month, Thanasi Kokkinakis — who has Greek parents — swept to a men’s doubles title at the Australian Open tennis tournament with Nick Kyrgios.
The wild card pairing — known as KK during the tournament — won a gripping all-Australian final against the higher ranking partnership of Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell.
ATL struck the sponsorship deal with Kokkinakis after he broke into the world’s top 100 players in 2015. Today, he is placed 69 in the rankings and rising fast.
ATL chief executive Inaki Bandres said his staff — who are all keen sports fans — saw the sponsorship as a way of marketing the business when lockdown stopped them getting out and about.
“We like to see ourselves as a niche operator that’s always trying to do things differently,” he said. “When Covid hit the world and we were all grounded, we gave some very serious thoughts as to how we could still get the ATL name out there.
“Imaginative and creative as we are, we decided that our travel and entertainment budget could still be used but in a totally different way. So sports sponsorships came to mind.”
ATL started in sports sponsorship by backing young professional Spanish golfer Maria Parra, who is tipped for future stardom.
She is currently playing on the US developmental Epson Tour and already has a 35-position finish in the US Open under her belt.
ATL also sponsored the 50th Anniversary of the International Polo Tournament in Sotogrande, Spain, which is a major competition. It also entered its own polo team and reached both semi finals in the silver and gold cups.
