WHY IS THE TENNIS WORLD ALWAYS LOOKING FOR MONEY? By Javier Palenque

It seems imminent that the ATP and maybe the WTA will have reached some agreement with Saudi Arabia to have more events there. The motivation from professional tennis is the need for money to grow their shows. In this sense, the ATP is better positioned than the WTA as more people are interested in men’s than women’s tennis. Please do not be offended by these facts. As of 2021, ATP had $175M in revenue and Income before taxes of $25M or the equivalent of 14%, on the other hand, the WTA had only $83M in revenue and losses of $15M or -18% income. One important issue to consider is that they are both nonprofits, both based in Florida, and therefore they do not pay federal taxes, so consider that extra money they get not to spend.

In essence, this means that of the two organizations, only one is viable the ATP, while the other the WTA is on life support and of course in desperate need of cash. The problem I have with all the Power Seven (all GS, ATP, WTA, and ITF (also a dying entity) is that all focus on everything except growing the game. Then after ignoring those three simple words all desperately go wherever they can to search for the money that they require. In the case of the Slams, they make the prices high, shift to corporate sponsors, and make it a social event to go to or a great entertainment venue to show clients an evening or a few hours of talk. I have nothing against those things, I do them both, but what I am against is that by all acting independently and, in their self-interest, they all face the need for more money and are all looking for it in the wrong areas and moving away from the very people who would be their fans. It seems collectively they are not very smart people.

The question they all ask is “How do we get more money” In ATP’s case they go wherever, pimping the sport to the highest bidder, in WTA’s case they defy logic fighting against communist regimes, defending equal pay, losing money in the process, and hoping the market pays for their gross incompetence. No, markets do not work this way, markets are rational things that work through interest and information and it has concluded that you do not generate enough cash to be viable.

Rather than act all in their foolish self-interest and search for money from wherever they can, it is not wiser to simply ask, how can we grow the game, so we don’t have to look for money anywhere? This way the money comes from millions of fans and thousands of places rather than from sportswashing retrograde nations that sell us gas at inflated prices. ?

Why have these leaders still not figured out that there is only one solution that they all collectively ignore: “growing the game one zip code/country at a time”? To this list, I also add the PTPA, whose mission is correct, whose intentions are correct, but also, they are trying to defy a market, they seek justice from those who never use it in their lexicon and do the exact opposite, which means they will never get it.

You can have all your meetings and changes and shows in reality nothing will change. The market has spoken in the entire world and none of you are humble enough to listen. So, let me speak on behalf of the tennis market globally for free as the self-appointed tennis commissioner:

The only way to reverse the aging and lack of interest in the sport is by growing the game locally one zip code/country at a time with the help of all involved. So, until this happens you will continue to pimp your product and seek money everywhere it may come from, but you fail to realize that also has a cost. That is the aging of the sport, which of course is not represented in the income statements. Simply take a peek at WTA’s financials, it's doomed in an era where women are more empowered than ever before. There is a disconnect here that none of you care to see. If my message is still not clear, let me write it in elementary school English for you:

The only thing that matters is the game, period! and none of you do anything for it, full stop. So expecting better results by doing the same thing over and over is the exact opposite of smart. Why is this so complicated for you all?

I say NO to Ineptitude and YES to growing the game.

I can be reached at [email protected]