The Saudi sovereign fund PIF offered US$1,000 million to merge lThe Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the two main tennis circuits in the world.
The objective of the two circuits is to offer equal prizes between men’s and women’s tournamentssomething that is reserved for Grand Slams and some Masters 1,000. With this movement, the PIF intends to take part in the unification of the ATP and the WTA with the aim of ensuring the celebration of a Masters 1,000 in its territory.
Several sources claim that Andrea Gaudenzi, president of the ATP, took advantage of the celebration of Indian Wells, in California (United States), to test the option of merging both circuits, to which All England Club, organizer of Wimbledon, gave its approval.
In September 2023, both circuits already approached positions to merge in the future. The idea of merging both circuits is not new. In 2021, the ATP and the WTA created a single marketing department for both circuits with the aim of accelerating and promoting the commercialization of commercial assets and creating synergies.
The PIF officially entered tennis in February, after closing an agreement with the ATP to become an official sponsor of the ATP men’s ranking with the aim of accelerating the growth of tennis.
As part of the agreement, the PIF becomes the official sponsor of the ATP ranking, as well as the trophy that honors the best player at the end of the year, at the ATP Finals. The fund will also make its foray into four of the nine Masters 1,000 on the calendar: in Indian Wells, Madrid, Beijing and Miami. Finally, the PIF will give its financial support to the program baseline, that the ATP has launched this year to promote the sporting careers of the youngest.
Tennis is one of the few sports in which the same amount is distributed in its men’s and women’s tournaments. prize money, although that only happens in big tournaments. In the lower caliber, male tennis players can earn 75% more in prizes than their colleagues.
In fact, the ATP announced in November last year the largest year-on-year increase in its history, so the total compensation for the ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour events will be US$217.9 million in 2023, 20.1% more than in 2022.
The record increase also included a significant upgrade to the ATP Challenger Tour, which will see on-site cash prizes grow by 75%going from US$12.1 million to US$21.1 million.
For its part, in March, the British fund manager CVC Capital Partners bought 20% of the WTA women’s tennis circuit for US$150 million. The fund announced that the goal is to “further raise the profile of women’s tennis and accelerate commercial growth for the benefit of fans, players, tournaments and other stakeholders in the game.”
Source: Ambito
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