2011 marked yet another record year for the Sony Ericsson Open. The tournament reinvested more than $1.5 million back into the event to make it more glamorous, fan friendly and socially connected than ever before and the results speak for themselves.
 
A record total of 316,267 guests visited the Tennis Center at Crandon Park including a men's finals record of 14,625 on Sunday, April 3. This marks the fourth time in the last five years that the Sony Ericsson Open has broken its all-time attendance record.
 
This year the tournament set five new session attendance marks and sold out nine sessions. On Saturday, March 26 the Sony Ericsson Open established a single day attendance record of 33,203 breaking the old record of 32,916 in 2007.
 
The Sony Ericsson Open is truly and international event with visitors coming from all over the world, and vacation packages were once again a hot commodity. For the second year in a row the tournament sold out of its 348 packages. Overall more than 14,000 room nights were booked directly through the tournament.
 
On site the Sony Ericsson Open saw retail sales increase by more than 65 percent.
 
But the record attendance and sales numbers were just one of many storylines this year.
 
On Wednesday, March 23 Sony Ericsson announced that it renewed its title sponsorship through 2014. In its first five years as title sponsor Sony Ericsson has raised the bar when it comes to promoting tennis to the world through innovation and entertainment.
 
This year Sony Ericsson ventured into the world of social media making the Sony Ericsson Open the first fully integrated foursquare event. Several check-in locations were created around the site and guests to the tournament won prizes and once in a lifetime opportunities by checking-in and unlocking badges during the event.
 
On Monday, March 21 the Sony Ericsson Open unveiled its first mobile application presented by SAP. The app, which is available for both Android and iOS platforms, featured the latest mobile content including schedules of upcoming matches, the men's and women's draws, and the option to view live scores and completed matches. SAP worked with Sony Ericsson and the ATP World Tour to deliver real-time data feeds to help ensure the latest information was available through the app.
 
The app was downloaded over 11,000 times during the two weeks of the tournament.
 
On site, the Crandon Park Tennis Center was once again revitalized to improve the fan experience. The tournament had bold new site graphics, a larger video wall at the entertainment stage, many new food options both in the plaza as well as stadium concessions, more public seating around the site, and electric line calling on Grandstand as well as Stadium Court.
 
The revamped food and beverage options were a big hit among guests this year. In partnership with Great Performances, the official food and beverage provider of the tournament, the Sony Ericsson Open gave visitors more choices than ever before including barbeque, a New York style deli, and Papa John's Pizza.
 
Inside the stadium the tournament created themed concession stands featuring Latin cuisine, New York style deli sandwiches, Italian sausage and peppers, and gourmet hot dogs.
 
This year in the Collectors Club the Sony Ericsson Open hosted five leading James Beard Award Nominees who put together lunch and dinner menus for members to enjoy. The chefs participating included Sam Gorenstein, Kris Wessel, Michelle Bernstein, Norman Van Aken, and Hedy Goldsmith.
 
The Sony Ericsson Open has become the most glamorous event on tour and this year's event was definitely the place to be seen in Miami. The names of those visiting the tournament this year was like a who's who of the entertainment and sports industries including actors Andy Garcia and Camilla Belle, model and actress Brooklyn Decker, Grammy award winning singer and reality star Brandy, music producer Bob Sinclair, Latin music star Alejandro Sanz, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Miami Heat All-Stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, golfers Sergio Garcia and Greg Norman, NFL star Reggie Bush and Olympic swimmer Dara Torres just to name a few.
 
True to form, the Sony Ericsson Open was a global event with over 600 credentials issued to media from 30 countries including reporters from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
 
Both the men's and women's finals were broadcast live on CBS. The tournament also made its return to ESPN2 with the network broadcasting 18 hours of coverage. Overall, the tournament received a record 77 hours of domestic television coverage on Tennis Channel, ESPN2 and CBS.
 
For the fourth consecutive year the Sony Ericsson Open took to the streets of Miami to bring tennis to people. The tournament hosted events at Coconut Grove (March 24) and Bayside Marketplace (March 25) featuring video boards, player appearances and interactive games.
 
The Sony Ericsson Open continued its long tradition of community service in 2011. On Friday, March 25 the Sony Ericsson Open hosted Tennis for Japan. That evening the global tennis family came together for a special fundraising event for the victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami disaster featuring the stars of the WTA and the ATP World Tour.  Kim Clijsters, Robin Soderling, Vera Zvonareva, and many others, including Japan's Kei Nishikori, Kimiko Date-Krumm, and Ayumi Morita, walked through the stands of the Stadium Court to collect donations from fans and encouraged the public to show support for the victims. 
 
In total, thanks to contributions from the WTA, ATP World Tour, the Grand Slams (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open), Sony Ericsson, ITF, IMG, SAP, Itaú, FILA, adidas and Lagardère, and the fans, the evening raised over $300,000 which will be donated to the Red Cross and other relief organizations to aid the victims of the disaster.