“We will see many tournaments die,” claims Director of ATP Cologne events, Barbara Rittner
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Barbara Rittner
In the most unexpected turn of events, the rise of coronavirus led to the halt of many activities, including that of tennis. It resulted in the cancellation of events such as Wimbledon, Monte Carlo Masters and the Canadian Open. Citing this, Junior Wimbledon champion, Barbara Rittner has given an insight regarding some of the inevitable barriers that the tournaments will come across in 2021.
Further, in 2020, many tournaments are already dealing with the loss of revenue. To add to this, any measures which can’t be ignored for an event’s smooth functioning as per the government guidelines will require the outflow of more funds. Hence, there will be just one route to proceed on, that of cancellation.
Barbara Rittner voices her concerns
Rittner is the director of the newly launched two ATP 250 tournaments that take place in Cologne. She stated that the event generated revenue through TV and sponsor. Yet, it was still in the hole without the aid of the revenue generated through ticket sales. These account for 30% of the tournaments accumulated revenue.
Reflecting on this, Rittner said, “I think everybody has got it that it has to be that way. It’s just a new standard of living. A new time during this corona period. We will see a lot of tournaments dying because of sponsors that cannot do it any more,” in an interview with The Guardian.
In addition, the delay in the Australian Open 2021 has caused a ripple effect. Due to this, smaller tournaments are suffering. Hence, Rittner’s view echoes the reality which will be met with in the coming year.
Also Read: ATP/ WTA Calendar 2021: Best-Case to Worst-Case Scenarios
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Chhavi Jindal
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