ATP sets new strategy with OneVision: But what is behind it?
With OneVision, the ATP presented an extensive campaign for the further development of tennis on Thursday. A look behind the plans for distributive justice, more major tournaments and the big cash cow: the media (right).
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Jun 09, 2022, 11:54 pm
One thing is undoubtedly in the limelight of media interest in the latest changes in the plans for the men's tennis tour: the extension of five ATP Masters 1000 events. Plans, which of course are not without negative implications - especially for the organizers of tournaments in the ATP 250 and ATP 500 categories. On the other hand, for tennis fans, they simply bring more of the most successful tournaments in the ATP calendar to the TV screens of the world.
However, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The pinnacle of those plans to take men's tennis to a new level under the "OneVision" project. The primary goal: to make the tennis product more successful worldwide, to further align sources of income to the digital age and to activate latent target groups as permanent audiences on the ATP tour. But first things first.
Approval stalled by COVID
This story begins in 2020, almost two and a half years ago. With Andrea Gaudenzi, a former Italian superstar is applying for the position as Chairman of the ATP. In the luggage: far-reaching plans for the tennis tour. It took almost 30 months - also due to the COVID-19-related implications for the ATP tour - until these plans were approved by the board - and could therefore be implemented.
"This has been a long time coming and for me it's a big step towards closer collaboration between the players and the tournaments in the spirit of partnership that the ATP was conceived of decades ago," said Todd Martin, President of Player's Council to the New York Times. A big step because the cooperation between tournaments and the players is to be massively intensified in the future.
Distributive justice for smaller tournaments
While stronger regulation of the conflicts of interest of members of the ATP board and better conditions for players in tournaments represent comparatively marginal changes, OneVision focuses on one thing above all: distributive justice. Which should also have an effect in favor of the smaller organizers who will be disadvantaged in terms of deadlines in the future.
In the future, the exploitation rights for all tournaments on the ATP tour will be collected within ATP Media, a subsidiary of ATP. What is new here is that the ATP Masters 1000 events will in future share part of their income from these broadcasting rights with tournaments in the ATP 250 and ATP 500 categories. In addition, the Board of Directors of the ATP will be adjusted and expanded to include the tournaments in these categories.
More prize money in big tournaments - and for low-ranked players?
There should also be fair distribution with regard to the range of players who get a piece of the big "prize money cake". At the extended ATP Masters 1000 events, the prize money is to increase by 35 percent by 2025 compared to 2022, and 30 players are to be included in the bonus pool at the end of the year. So far there have only been twelve. This pool should grow by at least 37% by 2023, as the ATP explains on the campaign homepage.
A profit-sharing mechanism is also intended to support those players who are struggling with low income from appearances on the ATP tour outside of the absolute top places in the world rankings. Over 140 players are to be included in this system. Players up to which position in the ATP world rankings are included and how exactly the implementation is planned cannot be found out at the moment.
Long-term approach of the ATP
In the ATP Masters 1000 category, players will in future be awarded a share of the tournament revenue in addition to the specified prize money. "We said, 'Let's get to the root of the problem,' which is the lack of trust between players and tournaments," Gaudenzi told the New York Times. "And all these fights that happen every year and take up 80 to 90 percent of our time, energy and resources and they're only about 1, 2 or 3 percent of the prize money."
These projects are designed across the board for the extremely long term. The profit-sharing deal is scheduled to last until 2053, just as tournaments in the ATP Masters 1000 category will benefit from category protection for 30 years in the future. At the ATP 500 level, this protection is scheduled for 15 years, and no extended category protection is planned for tournaments in the ATP 250 category.
"More days of quality entertainment"
What do all these changes have in common? They are intended to promote the popularity of tennis internationally. And this is exactly where the extension of the ATP Masters 1000 events comes into play. "We try to offer more days with first-class entertainment," says Gaudenzi. And to pick up those who "only look at the big games, like the semifinals or finals of the Grand Slams," as the ATP board explained.
According to the Italian, there is immense potential here for an intensified monetization of tennis. "The gap between the Grand Slams and the Masters events has gotten a bit too big in my opinion if you compare it to golf, for example, " Gaudenzi told the NYT. They want to get closer to sports like golf - and for this it is essential to offer fans a closed narrative peppered with top events from January to November.
ATP sees the greatest potential in media rights
In numbers, the sport of tennis wants to appeal to a target group of almost exactly one billion people who are globally available as (latent) fans of the sport. This makes tennis the fourth largest sport in the world, but in terms of media rights revenue, tennis lags far behind other players, accounting for just 1.3 percent of global sports revenue from media rights sales.
And exactly the media rights are the crux of the matter. Tennis is currently relying too much on the income from ticket sales. The COVID-19 pandemic has recently shown how volatile this market is. "The largest and most scalable growth opportunity lies in the media" is something like the guiding principle of a new strategy in men's tennis. The quintessence of a course that the ATP has now officially announced.
Tennis United? future music!
What always resonates with the statements on the new strategy, unity. Unity that currently does not exist in tennis. No other sport in this category is as fragmented as tennis. This is also where you want to start. But not yet. Discussions have already been held, but a real merger is only to be actually implemented in a second phase of OneVision. When exactly this should be the case is still unclear.
"Of course, there is still work to be done. Sometimes we compete rather than collaborate. As a sport, we continue to face complex challenges that underscore the need for a common governance and operating model. By pooling our media and data rights and focusing on one Working towards a common vision, we can offer fans the ultimate experience and build a stronger ecosystem for everyone," the website reads. Which means something like: "One step at a time." The first is done.