LONDON—Sony Ericsson said a change in strategy was behind a decision to drop its title sponsorship of the WTA Tour as part of a new, reduced deal with the Women’s Tennis Assocation.

The mobile handset maker, which made a net loss last year of €836 million ($1.14 billion), will remain the WTA Tour’s lead financial backer until 2012 but will remove its brand from the tour’s name as part of a new agreement announced yesterday.

The company will also drop its sponsorship of the season-ending championships, which will be held in Doha, Qatar for the final time this year, before moving to Istanbul for three years.

Although no financial details of the contract were disclosed, the new terms represent a significant reduction on Sony Ericsson’s initial six-year, $88 million commitment—a record for women’s sport—which expires at the end of the year, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“The net profitability is not too far off the existing one,” Stacey Allaster, chief executive of the WTA Tour, said.

Ms. Allaster said that the WTA Tour will not seek a new title sponsor and that Sony Ericsson will remain the tour’s leading partner, although the organisation can recoup some of the lost income by selling the naming rights to the season-ending tournament.

The new agreement continues the trend of sports organisations struggling to retain title sponsors during the downturn. The women’s tour is now in line with the men’s ATP Tour, which has not had a title sponsor since 2008. Mexican brewer Corona is the tour’s main global sponsor. [Read More]