As we head into the new year, 2016, I thought that I would start with a slight rant about the state of tennis as I see it. Tennis is one of those sports that is truly global and attracts a massive following all over the world. A lot of people follow tennis and the results etc. and many people play the game recreationally even though they might not show up in the official numbers.
I have always believed that the game of tennis is BIGGER than me, bigger than the ATP, ITF and WTA. When people involved in the games management forget that, they start to create problems for the themselves, not tennis, as tennis will live on longer than the individual and associations.
Here are just a few points that I am interested to hear your feedback on;
1. Income of professional players
As well as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova and the likes at the top of the game are prospering, in a sport like tennis, it is incredible how badly the whole picture needs to change. Laurynas Grigelis, finished the 2015 year as number 300 on the ATP rankings. He is 24 years of age and in the prime of his career of which he has managed to earn a staggering $215,080. If he had completed a degree from college and performed as well as he has on the tennis court in the business world, he would have earned almost $500,000 by now. The 300th placed women on the WTA tour is Polina Vinogradova who at 22 years of age has earned $83,891 in her career with $12,616 earned in 2015. This is below the poverty line in income, never mind the expenses that she or someone else is paying. To be in the top 300 of any discipline in the world, should not leave you in this type of financial position!
Lets compare to baseball, the Major League has a total of 750 players based on the 25 man roster. The minimum player income for the Major league is $500,000.00 per year. So in a league that has more players than those in the top 300 players of both the men's and women's games combined, the salary payments of the MLB far exceed that of the tennis players.
Tennis is not managing to attract enough new blood and with so many of the top 100 being over the age of 30, it means that tennis is heading for a period soon where most of the top players will be completely unknown to the fans.
2. Global reach of the sport
For a sport as global as tennis, I am confused why the reach of the elite athletes doesn't span the globe. I understand about sponsorships etc. but why are there not more Grand Slams in continents that love the game of tennis and are fanatical about it. Why does Paris have on the ATP, the Grand Slam, a Masters event and normal tour events when Africa and South America can not even host one Masters event? There is a huge imbalance and false representation of tennis. Makes me wonder if the FBI should too have a look at these associations like the did at FIFA.
Most the stadiums hosting a tennis tournament are almost completely empty for most of the tournaments matches, this is hurting in so many ways including the image of the sport when someone finds the tournament on TV and sees the apathetic support of the sport.
3. Team sport?
Sports like cycling and motorsport have made individualistic sports into team sports. In doing so, they have protected the athletes as well. So when you think that there is a problem from the first point of income in the professional sport, the pay for the athletes in the sports like cycling and motorsports from these teams are very financially viable. The individual athletes are also well protected for the marketing and branding of themselves.
The ATP and WTA are really just glorified "Unions" and are not in a position to protect the athletes and sport for the long term. I would love to see some of the previous champions start to work with smart business people to redraw the competitive tennis structure, keeping in mind that there are less players entering the fray of professional tennis careers, with a gigantic exodus of the major stars coming in the near future!
I have always believed that the game of tennis is BIGGER than me, bigger than the ATP, ITF and WTA. When people involved in the games management forget that, they start to create problems for the themselves, not tennis, as tennis will live on longer than the individual and associations.
Here are just a few points that I am interested to hear your feedback on;
1. Income of professional players
As well as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova and the likes at the top of the game are prospering, in a sport like tennis, it is incredible how badly the whole picture needs to change. Laurynas Grigelis, finished the 2015 year as number 300 on the ATP rankings. He is 24 years of age and in the prime of his career of which he has managed to earn a staggering $215,080. If he had completed a degree from college and performed as well as he has on the tennis court in the business world, he would have earned almost $500,000 by now. The 300th placed women on the WTA tour is Polina Vinogradova who at 22 years of age has earned $83,891 in her career with $12,616 earned in 2015. This is below the poverty line in income, never mind the expenses that she or someone else is paying. To be in the top 300 of any discipline in the world, should not leave you in this type of financial position!
Lets compare to baseball, the Major League has a total of 750 players based on the 25 man roster. The minimum player income for the Major league is $500,000.00 per year. So in a league that has more players than those in the top 300 players of both the men's and women's games combined, the salary payments of the MLB far exceed that of the tennis players.
Tennis is not managing to attract enough new blood and with so many of the top 100 being over the age of 30, it means that tennis is heading for a period soon where most of the top players will be completely unknown to the fans.
2. Global reach of the sport
For a sport as global as tennis, I am confused why the reach of the elite athletes doesn't span the globe. I understand about sponsorships etc. but why are there not more Grand Slams in continents that love the game of tennis and are fanatical about it. Why does Paris have on the ATP, the Grand Slam, a Masters event and normal tour events when Africa and South America can not even host one Masters event? There is a huge imbalance and false representation of tennis. Makes me wonder if the FBI should too have a look at these associations like the did at FIFA.
Most the stadiums hosting a tennis tournament are almost completely empty for most of the tournaments matches, this is hurting in so many ways including the image of the sport when someone finds the tournament on TV and sees the apathetic support of the sport.
3. Team sport?
Sports like cycling and motorsport have made individualistic sports into team sports. In doing so, they have protected the athletes as well. So when you think that there is a problem from the first point of income in the professional sport, the pay for the athletes in the sports like cycling and motorsports from these teams are very financially viable. The individual athletes are also well protected for the marketing and branding of themselves.
The ATP and WTA are really just glorified "Unions" and are not in a position to protect the athletes and sport for the long term. I would love to see some of the previous champions start to work with smart business people to redraw the competitive tennis structure, keeping in mind that there are less players entering the fray of professional tennis careers, with a gigantic exodus of the major stars coming in the near future!
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