The Sports Business Journal reports that Olympus has countersued the USTA and asked a New York court to nullify its sponsorship of U.S. Open Series tournaments. It has also asked for a reimbursement of a portion of the more than $10 million in sponsorship fees it has paid the USTA since 2003.
Last month, the USTA sued Olympus for $11.65 million for breach of contract, saying the camera company wanted to get out of their sponsorship agreement in 2011.
Olympus and the USTA had signed a deal through 2013, but the contract allowed Olympus to opt out of the last two years of the deal, which it has moved to do. But the USTA claims Olympus is trying to prematurely shed its commitments for 2011, which total $11.65 million, including $7 million to sponsor the U.S. Open, $3.35 million to sponsor the U.S. Open Series tournaments and $1.3 million to purchase advertising time from the USTA's media partners.
Olympus claims the USTA allowed Panasonic to infringe on Olympus' exclusive sponsorship rights, a charge the USTA denies. The USTA claims Olympus is merely trying to reduce costs.—Matthew Cronin