My YEG! colleague Pierpaolo sent me some pictures of Sinner’s great home turf win at the Nitto ATP Tourfinals last night. What struck me was how much the arena environment had changed from when I was an ATP broadcaster at @Eurosport. It was pumping!
It’s not just on court that the ATP has had a shake-up. Andrea Gaudenzi‘s, OneVision’s plan, delayed because of COVID is now moving the ATP forward on the business front.
OneVision’s main pillars are
Andrea, an ex-player, knew that friction between players and the tournament was slowing down the ATP’s growth. He has instituted financial transparency and distributive justice. Now – with fully independent auditing – the players share profits on top of the base prize money. In cold hard cash terms that means an additional $12.2 million Bonus Pool for players, generated through a 50/50 profit-sharing formula. The player’s downside was capped and the total ATP Bonus Pool is now $33.5 million for 2023. It’s a significant step in aligning incentives.
The quid pro quo for the extra cash is a step-by-step extension of the ATP’s top-level events called the ATP Masters 1000. That is a shrewd move. It offers fans, sponsors and broadcasters a constant flow of ATP narrative and assets from January to November.
The plan isn’t just forward-thinking; it’s built for the long haul. The profit-sharing model, extending until 2053 brings long-term stability to the financial dynamics of the sport.
The ATP is focusing on media rights, correctly identifying this as the most scalable growth opportunity for tennis. The ATP aims to pull in the untapped casual fans – there are a billion of them – using its new data-enhanced media. Using digital content, gaming, player analytics and performance tech could help turn the ATP into a powerhouse of tennis revenue.
The arena show is much improved but there is still room to enhance the guest experience and hospitality.
Making tennis daily social currency means committing to off-court content. That means working closely with players and taking content risks. Players value their time, they don’t give up that or their content easily. When you spend a lot of time polishing your broadcast content it’s a tricky leap to go from live tweeting matches to memes, dance videos, the polls. The raw humanity, humour and authenticity that makes sports socially powerful is often countercultural for rights holders.
The look and feel of the ATP could better reflect the energy and passion of the in-arena experience.
Tennis players are still an underutilised asset. They have long been underexposed. Positioning players individually with clearly defined characters, against demographics and geographies will help build fan identification in a sport which has a huge pool of casual viewers and fans who dip into grand slams and big matches.
With OneVision, the ATP is rewriting the playbook for men’s tennis. It’s a visionary approach, promising to make tennis more engaging, equitable, and globally celebrated. We’re witnessing a pivotal moment in the sport’s history – a period that could very well redefine the future of tennis.
Mark Alexander is a sports and major events professional with 25 years of experience. He has been a broadcaster of the ATP Tour , signed the IBM sponsorship of Hawkeye, and was part of the team that developed the ATP’s broadcast rebrand at Eurosport. This article is reproduced on YEG!’s website
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