INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Tennis Championships will move on to another city.

The event's board of directors confirmed Monday that the tournament's Association of Tennis Professionals sanction will be sold, with a transaction to close by the end of the year.

Organizers said they had tried everything possible to keep the annual tennis tournament in Indianapolis, but that it became clear it couldn't continue.

"I can confidently say that we explored every conceivable scenario to retain the tournament in Indianapolis," said Kevin Martin, the tournament's director, in a news release. "However, the serious challenges presented by recent economic trends have caused the board to make the prudent decision to sell the event.”

Martin didn't elaborate on a deal that may already be in the works, citing a confidentiality agreement.

"As the board evaluates options to sell the event, it will balance the priority to support American tennis while selecting a bid that will insure our organization will have the financial strength to pay all of its liabilities," he said.

The Indianapolis Business Journal reported over the weekend that the event had already been sold to an Atlanta marketing firm, but Martin said a deal has not yet been finalized.

"A marketing firm down in Atlanta, the Forward Agency, has posted Internet messages to potential sponsors stating that the tournament is coming in August," Schoettle said. "The sponsorships are available. The TV packages are already set with the Tennis Channel and ESPN2."

The tournament, which began in 1921, has languished in recent years after it was moved from August to July.

Star tennis players who used to frequent the event stopped coming, and the facilities didn't keep up with those in other cities. In its heyday, the event had about 100,000 spectators. This year, attendance was down to a little more than 40,000.

RCA sponsored the event for 14 years, and Eli Lilly was its most recent title sponsor.