ATP’s wizardry in Management
View(s):Six months ago, even the experts would have not predicted correctly, names of the 8 who played the ATP London Masters final last week. The year went with the disappearance of big names, with no player really dominating. If there was a difficult year for the ATP to present good Tennis, it is 2017. This scenario has been building up for some time and surfaced uncontrollably this year.
The balancing act of catering for the big names in the game, upkeep of Tennis image amidst competition from other sports, keeping a path open to new names to emerge, managing the competition calendar, sustaining a ranking of interest to the public and, above all, making the money big for players are very difficult to manage. From the looks of it, it will get even more difficult in the years to come. The demands are stretching without limits.
Unexpected success
From the time of the ATP’s inception in 1972, the ‘Open Tennis’ arena has been growing. Before 1968, Tennis was closed, meaning, only amateurs could participate in all major championships. Professionals were not permitted to play in any of the regular events. Professionals played separately for a pittance of a quarter dollar for a point won. It was this humiliation and desperation that gave birth to the ATP. The Masters finals last week, gave away a whopping US$ 8 million in one week. It shows how much the ATP has grown. This success even to the ATP is unexpected.
Today, only big cities can afford the financial commitment for the rights to hold ATP events. Minimum prize money event for professional players is around US$ 15,000 at the lowest end of the professional calendar. Grand Slam events give out over US$ 30 million per event and is ever increasing. For the top 100 ranked participation, a minimum of US$ 500,000 is the price tag. Most of it comes from sponsors and global TV rights, not by selling Tickets to attend the event. Selling tickets to collect this type of money is a myth.
From Urban road to
Mega stadium
In the ’60s, Jack Kramer, Cliff Drysdale and other professionals had to convert urban side roads and car parks to show their Tennis. The aspect professionals quoted against ‘Amateurs Only’ tradition of Tennis was the lack of quality in the exhibition of the game. This was true and the world conceded to them. Now, the stadiums where they play are state-of-the-art setups and orchestrated to the mass media with great deal of emphasis.
Current Tennis events have standards set by the ATP. The list of things that make a big event is mind boggling. They are mega buck costing, logistic nightmare, with highly trained people to man, and some have two years as lead time. It is the ATP in the driving seat and dictates terms for managing the event. How on earth this happened always, will startle anyone looking into it.
Sustaining global Ranking & Statistics
If not for the computers, the support services which forms the live wire, enthusiasm among players and public cannot be achieved today. The expertise for this is another branch the ATP has very successfully created and sustains to make the Tennis world go around. If you take the time to peep into it, it will show the astonishing efficiency and scope of the operation. It is right to say ATP has created a cyber-universe. Sport is a big entertainer and, with TV taking the action into homes, it looks unstoppable. The ATP is a big player here too.
Some trouble?
Not all the events’ owners are completely happy with the ATP, but the trump card is with them – they own the players. One has to be crazy not to expect flaws, on the scale in which ATP operates. This year two mishaps hit the ATP and they apologised. First, in trying to lure bigger spectator interest and appeal to the audience, they had female models walk in with Under-21 Next-Gen players in Milan, Italy. The world exploded. Sexism was cited against them. With good grace they admitted it to be wrong. The ATP CEO did not hesitate doing it, and they are being somewhat excused.
The next came last week when the ATP published the wrong schedule, leaving Spectators very angry in their own ATP finals last week in London. People who bought tickets did not see their favourite player, and were disappointed. Next, Boris Becker was not at the draw as expected. He was stuck in the London traffic. Never happened before. One can call these not very important, but has to be warned that the management is certainly getting too big to handle.
Milan’s Next-Gen finals
In the meantime, a 21-year-old Korean made a clean sweep of winning all the 5 matches he played in the Next-Gen finals in Milano. He won the event.
Top ranked players did not like this event, as it was an age group event. However, the electronic line keeping and shot call against players delaying to start the next rally were welcomed. What was heard loud was “Tennis is a traditional” sport don’t mess with it. As for Tennis, the question was, ‘Where is the Tennis?’ True, the Next-Gen did not have the correct blend of Open Tennis.
-George Paldano, Former int. player; Accredited Coach of German Federation; National coach Sri Lanka & Brunei, Davis-Cup, Federation Cup captain/coach– contact 94 77 544 8880 geodano2015@gmail.com –