Super interesting piece in l'Équipe on how men's tennis is on the brink of implosion and open warfare between Slams, the ITF and the ATP (sub only) - I'll try and translate what I think is most interesting - Tennis abonnes.lequipe.fr/Tennis/Article…
"According to our information, the 3 million (US millions, milliard or thousand millions in the rest of the world) from promised by Piqué are only guaranteed up to 52 million. ... worrying."
"Until otherwise proven, there is a hidden war between the ATP and the ITF. There's no love lost between the ITF and the Slams. And the Slams aren't a united front: Wimbledon has always done what it wanted and Tennis Australia finances World Team Cup for its own financial gain."
"There's a tennis 4-headed Hydra that's eating itself. ... Even the ATP is rattled: 'It was a puzzle, but one that was keeping to a path. The ATP was a safeguard. It rejected Larry Ellison's extravagant prize money proposals. But Piqué's arrival has unbalanced everything."
"The ATP prize money for 1000's has increased every year. After +9% for four years, the Masters 1000's have offered +14% the last three years. According to our sources, they'll ask for +19% in 2019. The problem: the economy of tennis is dipping."
"To show their good faith, the Masters' TD's ordered a Price Waterhouse Coopers audit of their books. The audit confirmed the Masters' version."
Me: I've always been very suspicious of these audits. I recall the ML baseball strike where the owners pleaded poverty, and financial experts backed them, until one of the owners, can't recall who, admitted in a slip that the audit didn't take into account loads of other areas /2
/2 which made loads of money for the owners. Back to l'Équipe:
"No one listens. Literally: 'The players have one obligatory meeting a year lasting 1½ hours. That's where the big questions are raised, like finances. 3/4 of the players have their noses buried in their phones."
"No one listens. Literally: 'The players have one obligatory meeting a year lasting 1½ hours. That's where the big questions are raised, like finances. 3/4 of the players have their noses buried in their phones."
"They're not listening. The sport's finances don't interest them.'
Last year Roger Federer and his Laver Cup was the first all-business attack on the traditions and history of the game. The Piqué Blitzkrieg is a second, even more violent, one."
Last year Roger Federer and his Laver Cup was the first all-business attack on the traditions and history of the game. The Piqué Blitzkrieg is a second, even more violent, one."
There's a lot of other stuff, but those were the parts I found most interesting.
What the piece doesn't talk about is how much money the Slams have.
One Danish TA member told me "they suck up all the sponsor money, and we get smiles." Maybe that's why the voted yes to Piqué.
What the piece doesn't talk about is how much money the Slams have.
One Danish TA member told me "they suck up all the sponsor money, and we get smiles." Maybe that's why the voted yes to Piqué.
L'Équipe isn't likely to come down on the Slams - they're big RG sponsors :)
