By Etienne Stekelenburg
March 25 2005

Martina Navratilova signed an endorsement deal with the Olivia Travel Company. The tennis legend always was always struggling to find sponsors after she came out being lesbian, now the gay orientated travel company found her. "This is the first deal I've gotten because I am gay," Navratilova said on Tuesday. "Hallelujah."

Earlier Navratilova had worked with Subaru and currently she is endorsing Under Armour clothing and products of Juiceman like the Foreman grillers.

"Here's the greatest woman's sports star in history having difficulty with endorsements, partly because she's a woman, partly because she came out," Judy Dlugacz, founder and president of Olivia Travel Company, said. "The company needed to mature, and we're in the position where we now have the wherewithal to go in this direction, I wish we'd done it before."

"We're a perfect match," Navratilova said about Olivia. "We just feel free about who we are. They've done it for many years, and I've been doing it for many years."

"I always wanted to do a cruise through the Caribbean with Olivia, but I never did," Navratilova said. "One of these days, but I just haven't had the time. I know friends who did and who've loved it. But it's too much sitting still."

“I have always admired Olivia as a company,” states Navratilova. “They were groundbreaking in creating vacations for lesbian women where they are free to be themselves when no such option existed. And as I have never wavered in my right to be myself, I feel perfectly in line with Olivia. It’s a great match for where I am in my life right now, and I am proud to be associated with a company that has such an important social mission.”

“Martina Navratilova is an international superstar and a household name across the world,” said Olivia CEO Amy J. Errett. “Establishing a relationship with such an incredible figure is a natural fit for Olivia, one of the most recognized and highly regarded brands in the lesbian and gay community.”

Martina Navratilova is the second professional athlete to be sponsored by Olivia. In 2004, in a groundbreaking deal, LPGA golfer Rosie Jones became the first professional athlete ever sponsor by a lesbian/gay company.