By Liza Horan

New York City—Somewhere on the planet nearly every day of the year professional touring pros are competing for a chunk of prize money generated by sponsors. Today it's happening in Zagreb, Croatia; Vina del Mar, Chile; and Johannesburg, South Africa. Tonight it's happening in New York City.

The latter event stands alone for many reasons—not only because it's the only women's pro event on and the only American one. Here is a quick overview of tonight's happenings and why it's significant.

About the Event
The BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup at Madison Square Garden is an exhibition featuring top Americans Venus and Serena Williams and top Serbians Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic. The event offers $1.2 million in prize money—the players receive at least $250,000 each for participating in the one-set semifinal and final—and benefits the Women's Sports Foundation and Dream Vaccines. President Bill Clinton and King will speak at the event.

In conjunction with the exo, the USTA is hosting "Tennis Night in America," a youth registration event in all 50 states. More than 750 locations—including tennis clubs, schools, pizza joints and at least one Wal-Mart—are hosting program sign-up events that will feature screenings of HBO's live broadcast of the BNP Paribas Showdown, which begins at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

Why the event is significant:

• It was Serena Williams' idea, says promoter Jerry Solomon of StarGames. When Roger Federer and Pete Sampras faced off one year ago at Madison Square Garden, Williams asked when it would be the women's turn.
• Only Venus Williams has played previously at The Garden (1999).
• The four-hour block that HBO is telecasting the event is the longest period ever that HBO has broadcast a single sports event.
• Chicago's Midtown Tennis Club, which is expecting at least 150 kids at their live screening and program sign-up event, will be the location of a live remote broadcast on HBO during the Showdown.
• Despite HBO's long tradition of covering tennis (Wimbledon from 1978-1991), it never broadcast a live trophy presentation—until tonight as the Billie Jean King Cup is awarded to one of the four invited players.
• The TV broadcast negotiation between Solomon and HBO's Ross Greenburg "took about 30 seconds," according to the longtime friends and colleagues.
• The cooperation of big-league partners in the one-night event is unprecedented, says Solomon, naming BNP Paribas, USTA, Time Warner (owns HBO), DIRECTV, CableVision (owns MSG), Women's Sports Foundation and Dream Vaccines as the main parties.
• It's the first simultaneous event in all 50 states to get youth tennis players enrolled in recreational and competitive programs.
• Tennis participation is growing. Overall, 27 million people played in 2007 and the number of frequent players has reached six million.
• Tennis visibility is growing. The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour just hired PR firm Fleischman-Hillard to promote the women's game. Last week Monica Seles participated in a satellite media tour, which aired in 29 markets, by the USTA to promote tonight's event. Pre-event coverage for Tennis Night already has generated 14 million media impressions.
• HBO wants to cover more tennis.
• Promoters want to bring more tennis back to Madison Square Garden.

Bottom Line: The BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup, in conjunction with the USTA's "Tennis Night in America," shows a major commitment by the sport's stakeholders and others in tennis. And, it is evidence of the game's rise in mainstream culture.

Part of the evening's proceedings will honor King, the trophy's namesake. Here's what the competitors have to say about her.
Ana Ivanovic: "Billie Jean [has] done so much for women's tennis. It's great to have an opportunity to have a chat with her and share experiences. It's amazing. I hope later today I'll have another chance to talk to her a little bit more about it. But I feel definitely very honored to be here."
Serena Williams: "Because of Billie Jean King, we're all here and we all have this opportunity to play. It's great. She was definitely an unbelievable pioneer, someone that I strive to be. Definitely a big role model."
Venus Williams: "Billie Jean King has given so much. She really lives to give. I just can't think of anyone like that—that would be including myself. She's a really awesome person. She's given so much. I'm looking forward to tonight. Tonight is another gift from her."
Jelena Jankovic: "It's an honor for me to be a part of the event. Billie Jean King has done so much for the game. She's really a true legend in the sport. I think this is a really great tribute to her."

To learn where an event is happening near you , visit search.tennisnight.com.

Related links:
www.TennisNight.com
www.stargamesinc.com
www.HBO.com
www.TheGarden.com