Wimbledon 2025 is upon us, and it’s a safe bet to say that The Championships will deliver high emotion, record ticket sales, millions of BBC viewers, world-class hospitality, and a British surprise or two. It’s a formula that consistently puts the event top of YouGov’s most prestigious and best-presented sporting event tables, with few properties that can sit alongside it in terms of IP value.
Further encouragement for the AELTC can be found in the stars that have broken through to replace those that pushed broadcast figures to record highs. For Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer see Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, and for Serena Williams see Coco Gauff – the drama and ratings supplied by these players on Court Philippe Chatrier earlier in June will be toasted by the French Tennis Federation for years to come, as well as by their broad collection of personal sponsors.
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Off the court, the pressures faced by the sport are more complex for rights holders to navigate. Issues are bubbling underneath the surface and will be subject to numerous discussions as the sport’s leading governors meet at SW19.
Modernizing The Calendar
There is a consensus that the tennis calendar is too complex, too long, and too fragmented to sustain fan interest and allow player recovery. This, however, is where the consensus ends. At its most basic level, the Grand Slams want a streamlined, ‘Premium Tour’ anchored around their events. Whereas, the ATP and WTA are looking to protect the interests of a broader tour that includes 250 lower-tier and 500 middle-tier level events.
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By GlobalDataAn accord looks no closer to materializing. The announcement of a ‘revamped’ US Open mixed doubles tournament, featuring its top singles players (including teammates Alcaraz and Raducanu) and stretching the tournament into a third week, is a clear indication that the USTA is not willing to wait to shake things up. The other grand slams will no doubt be watching this closely. Reaction has been split between those who see the move as a stroke of commercial genius for fans and sponsors, and those who view it as a power-grab that betrays both tradition and the doubles specialists who will be marginalized by the new format.
Meanwhile, the ATP and WTA have extended a number of their celebrated 1000-tier events into two-week slots, and the players remain on a merry-go-round, looking enviously at their peers in other sports who benefit from extended off-seasons. Organizers and players are in a stand-off, and greater disruption remains on the cards.
Navigating New Investment
A relief for all the governing bodies is that tennis hasn’t been fractured in the way golf has been – the top players still play the top tournaments together. Separate strategic partnerships signed between Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the ATP and WTA have helped in this regard, but have not been without controversy. Jeddah is currently hosting the year-end WTA Finals and Next Gen Finals, and while prize money for these events has never been higher, the opposite is largely true for in-stadium attendance, with an open question surrounding the appropriateness of WTA marquee events being staged here.
Next on the agenda is a Masters 1000 event, with reports suggesting a new tournament in Saudi Arabia could take place as early as 2028, though many question where this fits in a calendar already bursting at the seams. Ultimately, it’s likely a schedule will emerge that has parallels to F1. One with a high weighting of races in the Middle East, keeping key investors happy, but at the cost of regions such as South America, where top-tier tournaments and, consequently, players don’t visit.
The Haves and the Have Nots
For the players, a two-tier (at least) system is firmly in place and shows no sign of changing. At the top of the pyramid sit the singles superstars. Those whose annual prize money runs into the millions, with appearance fees at certain tournaments that can be negotiated, and whose earnings can be supplemented by eye-watering sums at exhibitions. Jannik Sinner, for example, took home $7.5 million for winning the Six Kings Slam exhibition, more than twice the sum of a Wimbledon champion.
When it comes to the partnerships sector, the single biggest factor underpinning commercial deals for these players is their country of origin. The raft of sponsors supporting European and American superstars should come as no surprise, based on the appeal these players have for major sponsors. Even the likes of Casper Ruud and Arthur Fils, who weren’t invited to the Six Kings party, fronted big brand campaigns around the French Open. However, moving East and interest wanes quickly, with top 20 players such as Rybakina, Alexandrova, and Khachanov operating in a different market. Despite that, earnings remain healthy thanks to the prize money achieved.
Outside the top 50, the picture changes rapidly. Coaching, travel, and accommodation take up a large percentage of earnings, and if you don’t manage to qualify for the top tournaments, only those representing Grand Slam nations will benefit from wild cards to supplement earnings via a main draw position. Deals with apparel brands are less lucrative, brands aren’t knocking on the door, and even the chance to go deep in doubles tournaments isn’t guaranteed with changing competition formats.
This is exacerbated by another issue – revenue share. Between 15% – 30% of tournament revenue is given back to players via prize money, much lower than seen in the major American leagues, and it’s largely for this reason that the Professional Tennis Players Association submitted a lawsuit in March. The suit looks to break the ‘cartel’ and bring more revenue into the control of players, though few notable names have, as yet, been directly associated with it. In the meantime, those on the periphery of the professional game will continue to have financial pressure adding to the on-court pressure when at the business end of a deciding set.
While changes will have to eventually occur on the above issues, it’s unlikely the structure of tennis will change drastically in the short term as players and organizers look to find balance between the needs of sponsors, fans, investors, and players. As the crowds descend on Wimbledon, this tension is likely to be at the heart of more than a few conversations courtside.
This op-ed was written by James Tollington, group director at sports and entertainment agency Fuse.
