“Conducting Grand Slams in Bio-Bubble for 2 seasons will be very difficult,” says ATP Chief

“Conducting Grand Slams in Bio-Bubble for 2 seasons will be very difficult,” says ATP Chief

Grand Slams attract the largest attention from all the tennis fans around the world. As large as the tournaments get, the organisation and management also takes huge effort from the organising committee for a smooth conduct of the games during the time of the event.

But due to the ongoing pandemic, all the sporting events are held in the Bio-secure environments created specially for the players, officials and all the people involved in the game. The 2020 Wimbledon was cancelled due to the rising cases in the UK during the months when the event happens, making it the first time since World War 2 that the Championships were not held. However, to the delight of many, the rest 3 Grand Slams were held in the bio-bubble behind closed doors.

“Most of them run a federation as well so they’re also in charge of tennis development throughout the country, “I think a year is sustainable but two years in a row for the Grand Slams, or three, is definitely going to be a problem … they also need some oxygen, absolutely.” Andrea Gaudenzi, the chairman of the men’s tour, said recently.

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The 2021 Australian Open managed to keep their prize money same despite the restrictions and bio-bubble, but the organisers fear they can manage the same for next edition if the pandemic still continues.

The 2019 US Open without any ticket sales and the controlled bio-environment, the prize money was still around 95% of the 2018 edition, while the 2019 French Open managed with a 11% cut to their total purse.

“The four Grand Slams account for around 60% of the entire volume of business for the tennis industry”

US Open 2020 being played behind Closed Doors.

“It’s an extremely challenging situation also for them, but obviously the Grand Slams are bigger, and obviously when you’re bigger you have broader shoulders. And it’s a different economics. The four Grand Slams account for around 60% of the entire volume of business for the tennis industry,” Gaudenzi said.

“They definitely took a hit, but they have different economics. They have been capable of delivering 100% prize money because they obviously have different profit margins than our tournaments.” he added. “Unfortunately for tennis, because we are global, different continents, different time zone, you move an event to a different location, not only do you lose ticketing but then you lose sponsorship as well.”

”Broadcast and media will renegotiate because you’re moving the event to a different time zone. So you basically have to start, almost from zero. Ticketing, sponsorship and broadcast, completely rebuild the platform from a revenue standpoint.” the ATP Chief signed off.

With the Australian Open taking fans in for the 2021 Edition, it will be interesting to see how the remaining 3 Grand Slams go about the audience factor as the tickets are one of the highest revenue generation for the organisers.

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