Dubai kind of an odd tournament

[spirit]

Does anyone else think the Dubai tournament is kind of odd? I mean, a pro tennis tournament where the prize money is around $1m, and apearance fees must be in the stratosphere, but where the fan base must be tiny. I bet Bjorn Borg even got an appearance fee to sit in the stands. I mean, how many avid tennis fans can there be in the desert? It must all be oil money supporting this tournament, rather than from the ground up fan support. And isn't it a bit off the beaten track as far as the tennis world is concerned? To add to all this weirdness, the sound track on the tennis channel was having problems, with the crowd noise sounding like a bunch of goats winnying, or something like that. Or is that the way the crowd noise really sounds there?

Aren't there some major world class cities with no big class pro tennis tournament that the tour can go to? What about Chicago? Berlin (is there one there?) Hamburg? Madrid (one there?) Rio? Copenhagen? San Francisco? Tokyo? Atlanta? I'm sure there are others.

 

[sureshs]

It is not that simple. They pay a LOT of money to the tours (I don't mean the prize money, I mean the rights fees). Other places can't do that. There are also political ties between the sheikhs and bigwigs in the west - look at the ports scandal in the US. Dubai wants to be known as a modern, moderate place which has more to offer than just oil. They want to be known as a friendly business hub. And relations with them are important to many countries, not just the western ones. There could have been major under the table negotiations in order for the WTA to put a stop there. I don't know the specifics, but I doubt if women are allowed to play tennis in Dubai. But this is true for other things also - locals cannot consume liquor, go to nightclubs, etc but visitors can. Dubai wants their money but does not want disruption of its culture. And the visitors want the business deals and the good time, and don't care about the domestic social aspects.

 

[Mr.Federer]

You must pretty uncultivated to think that Dubai is not a world class city.

Edit: Hamburg,tokyo(both ATP and Wta),Madrid,Copenhagen(on the wta) all have world class tournaments.

 

[bb47]

Dubai itself is pretty odd, believe me.

 

[Mugatu]

uncultivated?? hahaha

 

[shawn1122]

Does anyone else think the Dubai tournament is kind of odd? I mean, a pro tennis tournament where the prize money is around $1m, and apearance fees must be in the stratosphere, but where the fan base must be tiny. I bet Bjorn Borg even got an appearance fee to sit in the stands. I mean, how many avid tennis fans can there be in the desert? It must all be oil money supporting this tournament, rather than from the ground up fan support. And isn't it a bit off the beaten track as far as the tennis world is concerned? To add to all this weirdness, the sound track on the tennis channel was having problems, with the crowd noise sounding like a bunch of goats winnying, or something like that. Or is that the way the crowd noise really sounds there?

Aren't there some major world class cities with no big class pro tennis tournament that the tour can go to? What about Chicago? Berlin (is there one there?) Hamburg? Madrid (one there?) Rio? Copenhagen? San Francisco? Tokyo? Atlanta? I'm sure there are others.

I'm pretty sure Dubai is rich...and the "crowd sounding like a goat" comment is just stupid, so I won't comment on it. It's most likely places like Chicage and Atlanta dont give a **** about having a tennis tournament, so you should be happy that Dubai is holding one.

 

[spirit]

I'm pretty sure Dubai is rich...and the "crowd sounding like a goat" comment is just stupid, so I won't comment on it. It's most likely places like Chicage and Atlanta dont give a **** about having a tennis tournament, so you should be happy that Dubai is holding one.

The goat or winnying sound I believe was the bad audio coming off my tennis channel connection. I watched the Nadal - Federer match twice and the audio was off both times.

Yes, I admit it, I know next to nothing about Dubai except that it is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and is awash in oil money. I guess it is a world class city if you say so. Maybe I'll get a chance to visit some time.

I guess its not Dubai so much that I found odd, it's that tennis as a sport needs to have all these rich sponsors in order to put on its events profitably. Can't exist on ticket and TV revenue, I guess. And just about every tennis tournament I've been too is heavy into the use of "volunteer" labor - ball kids, drivers, ushers, line callers. Don't know any of he other major sports that can't pay the people working the event at least the minimum wage. In fact, I wonder how they manage to get around the minimum wage laws.

 

[spirit]

You must pretty uncultivated to think that Dubai is not a world class city.

Edit: Hamburg,tokyo(both ATP and Wta),Madrid,Copenhagen(on the wta) all have world class tournaments.

I should have known this. Now I do.

 

[Freedom]

...and the "crowd sounding like a goat" comment is just stupid, so I won't comment on it.

lol. Are you sure you aren't gonna comment?

 

[Double K]

? No Because it has other things