It’s unclear what effect the Securities and Exchange Commission charging R. Allen Stanford with fraud this week will have on the dozens of sports sponsorships held by Stanford Financial Group, including several prominent ones in South Florida.

Stanford Financial’s name covers the VIP lobby at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami. It’s the title sponsor of the No. 1 field at the International Polo Club of Palm Beach and one of the host sponsors at the Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne. The company has sponsor relationships with prominent golfers, including Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas and Boca Raton’s Morgan Pressel.

The SEC’s complaint alleges Stanford was involved in an $8 billion scheme centered on certificates of deposits that promised unusually high rates. The SEC froze the assets of Houston-based Stanford Group Co.; Stanford Capital Management, also of Houston; and Antigua-based Stanford International Bank.

It doesn’t appear that Stanford Financial Group, which is the arm of the company with the sports sponsorships, is a target of the current investigation, but that doesn’t mean those sponsorships aren’t in potential danger. Team and sporting event officials contacted said it’s too early to say, and they’re waiting to learn more, too.

The Heat is believed to have a multi-year deal with Stanford Financial at AmericanAirlines Arena. For now, it appears the entrance lobby the company sponsors will continue to bear Stanford’s name. Eric Woolworth, Heat president of business operations, said: “We don’t know anything, therefore it would be inappropriate to comment.”

At the International Polo Club of Palm Beach, Stanford has been a sponsor of “Stanford Field” for three years and recently renewed for another three years, starting this year. “They paid up through this season, 2009, which ends in April,” said John A. Wash, president of club operations.

“Just as things progress in the news, we’re watching it closely,” Wash said. “We have sponsors come and go all the time. We hate to see this situation happen. We’re waiting to see how it all plays out.”

But Wash assured “polo will continue.”

He said sports don’t have control over corporations’ business operations. He reminded that the Houston Astros ballpark was originally known as Enron Field, until the Enron collapsed and it’s now known as Minute Maid Park.

At Crandon Park Tennis Center on Key Biscayne, Stanford Financial is now in its fifth year as a “host” sponsor for the Sony Ericsson Open. The company has court signage, display booths, a hospitality suite.

Tournament Director Adam Barrett said he isn’t sure what the SEC investigation will mean for the sponsorship, which runs another two or three more years.

“We hope it means very little, not as much for the tournament, but for anyone who has investment dollars with Stanford,” Barrett said adding the tournament will not be dramatically affected should Stanford’s contract end early.

“There’s not much we can do about it, we can’t really control the outcome of it,” Barrett said. “It’s more about you hope it’s not true, not because of our sponsorship, but because as a country, we can’t use another major fraud or fallout from our financial sector. That’s the bigger picture than our tennis balls going over a net.”

Stay tuned…

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The court at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships is awash in blue. It’s the centerpiece of a mural that features waves and a graffiti design. It’s the handiwork of Pompano Beach artist Doug Hoekzema along with Angel Mir and Brandon Opalka.

It took six days – three days’ prep and three days’ painting – to be ready in time for this week’s tournament. And that’s not all that makes the Delray ITC unusual.

There are rock concerts and parties. And the VolleyGirls.

Yes, the tournament has its own promotions team – a 12-member troupe of young women, who hail from Germany, Russia, Serbia, Colombia, Jamaica, and the United States. Their job is to promote the tournament off the grounds and encourage crowds during the men's ATP event, which runs through Sunday. The idea started with seven VolleyGirls last year.

“We’re taking this to a whole different level,” said John Butler, executive director of the tournament. “It’s not even tennis anymore. It’s a spectacle.”

After all, this is the tournament that last year began offering a dozen on-court seats that allow fans to get to their seats the same way players walk onto the court. The fans are as close to the action as possible without being in the game.

The idea behind all the innovations, Butler says, is to convince non-tennis fans the tournament is worth attending. He took a page from traditional sports and borrowed liberally from the entertainment that surrounds other sporting events, such as a Heat game. VolleyGirls grew out of watching the Heat dancers. The tournament has DJs patterned on the Heat’s DJ Irie.

The mural was Butler’s idea as a way to differentiate the Delray tournament from any other tennis tournament shown on TV.

“Here we have these big palettes. Let’s make it more fun,” Butler said. “Let’s make it so that when someone’s flipping through the TV channels, they’re going to know at least that it’s different. They might stop and take a look.”

Butler acknowledges that at the center of the event, however, is a tennis tounament. “We still have a field of 32 players that are going to attract the tennis market," he said. "We’re trying to bring in new fans.”

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