Federer wants 2 million euros to play Basel next year.

[nikdom]

Gimelstob's tweet from a few days ago on this matter -

Justin Gimelstob ‏@justingimelstob

Very sad and pathetic to read manipulated reports out of Switzerland that Roger Federer hasn't been loyal 2 the @ATPWorldTour event in Basel

 

[Tennis_Hands]

If the beginning of your post makes sense, the rest is completely absurd. Nadal doesn't have to support Queen's. It's not his home tournament.

No, he doesn't have to support ANY tournament. Same as Federer. But Federer did support his home tournament for a number of years.

Why should he be altruist?

He should't. But if some people are going to compare the two cases they should also expect, a fair comparison to be made.

Or why doesn't Federer play in Queen's instead of Halle and pay all those nice taxes?

Historically Federer has never preferred Queen's, so this question is absurd.

A Swiss champion doesn't pay so many taxes in his own country, he could pay them elsewhere.... Queen's is not Nadal's tournament more than Federer's tournament, is it?
When you see both players go each year to Abu Dhabi, you know that it's not "altruism" (to use your own word) and that they like money.

Who said, that the palyers should be guided by altruism?

It is just a way to compare both situations in question. And, if you ask why do we have to compare them, you should ask your fellow poster and Nadal fan Mustard about that.

When they play a grass tournament between the French Open and Wimbledon, you know that their main goal is to prepare Wimbledon. There are 2 tournaments played the same week: Queens and Halle. Not a home tournament for any of them. Why should Nadal remain the altruist one and play in Queens (no money at all, you don't lose money at best)? He's not more english than Federer.

Again, see the previous answer.

The Basel tournament for Federer is the equivalent of Barcelona for Nadal.

No, it is not. Nadal has no home tournament, that he plays in. He is from Manacor.

Why mention Queens for Nadal in a discussion about Basel for Federer?

Mustard brought this into this discussion.

So, why is Federer "on a much higher level as far as his altruism is concerned, because he actually did things, that Nadal refused to do"? Because he commits to Basel between Shanghai and Bercy?

Yes.

Nadal commits to Barcelona in the middle of a very dense clay season (and *******s generally are the first ones to accuse him of playing mickey mouse clay court tournaments because he plays an ATP 500 which is his home tournament).

Nadal commits to the tournament, where most points are to be collected at that particular period of the year. And he relies heavily on the points from the clay court season, to be where he is and earn more money as a tennis superstar. So, he is not commiting himself to the tournem, because it is his "home" tourney, but because he relies on colecting as many points as possible during the claycourt season. As ooposed to Federer, who can collect more points elsewhere (having in mind the fact that playing several consecutive tourneys generally leaves him with less in the tank, come the WTF time and he HAS to choose wisely)

For you ,to be as altruist as Federer, Nadal should commit to Queens. Why? It's not more his home tournament than Federer's.

You didn't understand anything at all.

 

[Larrysümmers]

Its the entertainment business. This stuff happens.

 

[reversef]

No, he doesn't have to support ANY tournament. Same as Federer. But Federer did support his home tournament for a number of years.



He should't. But if some people are going to compare the two cases they should also expect, a fair comparison to be made.



Historically Federer has never preferred Queen's, so this question is absurd.



Who said, that the palyers should be guided by altruism?

It is just a way to compare both situations in question. And, if you ask why do we have to compare them, you should ask your fellow poster and Nadal fan Mustard about that.



Again, see the previous answer.



No, it is not. Nadal has no home tournament, that he plays in. He is from Manacor.



Mustard brought this into this discussion.



Yes.



Nadal commits to the tournament, where most points are to be collected at that particular period of the year. And he relies heavily on the points from the clay court season, to be where he is and earn more money as a tennis superstar. So, he is not commiting himself to the tournem, because it is his "home" tourney, but because he relies on colecting as many points as possible during the claycourt season. As ooposed to Federer, who can collect more points elsewhere (having in mind the fact that playing several consecutive tourneys generally leaves him with less in the tank, come the WTF time and he HAS to choose wisely)



You didn't understand anything at all.

I'm not going to waste my time replying sentence by sentence. Just a few things: Barcelona IS Nadal's home tournament. Manacor has no tournament. The spanish players will tell you that Madrid is their club or that Barcelona is their club. Nadal is a "home made" player, but still went to Barcelona when he was a junior for training sessions.
Once again, Nadal has nothing to do with Queens and no player should play a tournament if he risks losing money (which is different of "not earning money"). That's not being greedy.

 

[atptennis]

Thought I should bump the thread now that new information have come into light.

Its not just about 7 figure appearance fee but also about the treatment the TD of SI gave to Fed during the 2012 edition of the most profitable 500 ATP on the tour. It was TD's job and not federer's to deal with tourney's sponsers.

 

[bluetrain4]

Seems unreasonable. What does he need extra money for? Let's be honest.

Hard to believe.

Not hard to believe at all. As someone who is decidely not rich, it's easy for me to say that a particular wealthy person "has enough" or that a certain amount of money is such a small percentage of their overall wealth that is "shouldn't matter."

But, I think most (not all, but most) people, wealthy or not, think of money in absolute terms, not as percentage of their overall wealth. 2 million dollars is still 2 million dollars (a LOT of money), whether you have $0 in the bank or $200 million, and I don't think many people will forgoe the chance to get $2 million even if they already have plenty. Maybe that's unfortunate in some cases, but I think it's true nonetheless.

 

[Steve0904]

Not hard to believe at all. As someone who is decidely not rich, it's easy for me to say that a particular wealthy person "has enough" or that a certain amount of money is such a small percentage of their overall wealth that is "shouldn't matter."

But, I think most (not all, but most) people, wealthy or not, think of money in absolute terms, not as percentage of their overall wealth. 2 million dollars is still 2 million dollars (a LOT of money), whether you have $0 in the bank or $200 million, and I don't think many people will forgoe the chance to get $2 million even if they already have plenty. Maybe that's unfortunate in some cases, but I think it's true nonetheless.

It is absolutely true, and it's what most people often fail to realize. You only need to look at this thread for proof.

 

[Fiji]

He is the GOAT so he deserves whatever appearance fee he demands. Fact.

 

[Amelie Mauresmo]

Yet some tennis fans are going to say Federer isn't arrogant the man is worth over $100 million dollars he makes millions from endorsements every year. $500,000 euros tax free is a lot of money yet Federer wants $2 million he's greedy and he's a jerk. Federer is being unreasonable he already gets a huge fee yet he wants more money he's so arrogant.

 

[Amelie Mauresmo]

I think you are being ridiculously narrow-minded. Just because he has a lot of money, you immediately assume, quite cynically, that all his charity work is driven by his greed. It is possible to have a lot of money and do charity work for the benefit of humanity as well.

Federer is all about Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka and other Swiss players have criticized Federer for not playing Davis Cup enough. Federer isn't some saint his fan girls on the internet think he is. Federer is a talented tennis champion no one is disputing this but he's also extremely greedy and very arrogant.Federer is already super rich he's one of the richest male athletes on the planet.

 

[vladap]

Yet some tennis fans are going to say Federer isn't arrogant the man is worth over $100 million dollars he makes millions from endorsements every year. $500,000 euros tax free is a lot of money yet Federer wants $2 million he's greedy and he's a jerk. Federer is being unreasonable he already gets a huge fee yet he wants more money he's so arrogant.

maybe, but that TD is a first-class jerk there's no doubt about it

 

[The_Order]

maybe, but that TD is a first-class jerk there's no doubt about it

So, an extra 1.5mill will ease Federer's pain of having to put up with this jerk...

Dollarer should stay home, Nadal's playing there this year so he's only going to lose anyway.

 

[Amelie Mauresmo]

I love how everyone judges athletes for wanting more money.

Say what you want about how greedy they might be or how much they're asking for, but these guys have a shelf life of about 15 years on the tour making moneyif they're lucky. After that, their income in retirement comes from investments, etc. and in some cases guys like McEnroe become full time commentators.

Most guys on tour don't even play as long as Fed has, and will never evne make 10% of Fed's career earnings.

Fed has built his own brand, and since this is an individual sport he certainly has the right to do whatever he wants to do as long as it's within the rules. I don't see him breaking any rules.

DOes it seem snobbish that he's asking his "hometown" tournament for more money? Sure, but after these guys retire their income will extremely vary. Hopefully Fed has a smart money manager. Borg went broke to the point he had to sell his trophies right?

He's just trying to use whatever brand value he has left before his ranking deteriorates and he's just a touring "veteran" on the tour and not a top draw. The exo's are his excuse to travel to these countries he's never really been to before AND get paid for it.

Tennis fans and smart people are not going to have sympathy for a greedy multi millionaire like Roger Federer he's arrogant and he's a jerk.
If Federer is smart with his money he's set for life but he does come across as arrogant you can't compare Borg to Federer. Tennis players make much more money now. I think Federer has made over $70 million from his ATP earnings and he's probably made over $100 million from endorsements or even more. Federer is one of the wealthiest male athletes in the world he is super rich. To top it off Federer's family is wealthy.

 

[Bartelby]

Federer is wealthy. The tournament is profitable. It's a commercial decision.

 

[Sid_Vicious]

Federer is all about Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka and other Swiss players have criticized Federer for not playing Davis Cup enough. Federer isn't some saint his fan girls on the internet think he is. Federer is a talented tennis champion no one is disputing this but he's also extremely greedy and very arrogant.Federer is already super rich he's one of the richest male athletes on the planet.

Ridiculous retort to a comment that was posted months ago. I never said that Federer was a saint. The point I was making is that it is possible for athletes to do charity work for the sake of both philanthropy and self-promotion.

I don't even know why you quoted me. Nothing in your post contradicts the argument that I made. Maybe Federer is an egomaniac, but it is quite stretch to say that he is rotten to his very core and his foundation's work means absolutely nothing to him. I don't find it ridiculous to believe that compassion played at least some role in his action. But then again, I am not an extremist like you. Nobody on this forum is more hateful and malicious then you are.

 

[Bobby Jr]

Federer ... he's also extremely greedy and very arrogant.

Please give one example where you can show Federer's supposed greed.

Note: ****box blog items and partial truth news items don't count as evidence. I want some evidence - direct quotes for example.

Failing that, keep your partisan fantasies to yourself please. Making stuff up to suit your existing opinions don't make them any truer.

 

[sureshs]

Nadal's playing there this year so he's only going to lose anyway.

Exactly. I think Fed is playing hard to get precisely due to that. He now has a valid excuse to not play Nadal.

 

[Onehandedbackhand]

Getting tired of the crying about Fed asking for that kind of money.

He deserves every single penny, and has worked hard for it. I wish he asked for 2 billion.

 

[sureshs]

Gimelstob's tweet from a few days ago on this matter -

Justin Gimelstob ‏@justingimelstob

Very sad and pathetic to read manipulated reports out of Switzerland that Roger Federer hasn't been loyal 2 the @ATPWorldTour event in Basel

I wouldn't put much stock in that. They are buddies and were on the ATP Players Council together. Fed did not speak out against the atrocious comments that Gimelstob made.

He knows that Roddick and Gimelstob will play a role in getting him exhibitions in the US when he is retired and so he makes sure to keep them happy.

 

[SLD76]

I wouldn't put much stock in that. They are buddies and were on the ATP Players Council together. Fed did not speak out against the atrocious comments that Gimelstob made.

He knows that Roddick and Gimelstob will play a role in getting him exhibitions in the US when he is retired and so he makes sure to keep them happy.

I tend not to put too much stock in whatever you say.

 

[sureshs]

Getting tired of the crying about Fed asking for that kind of money.

He deserves every single penny, and has worked hard for it. I wish he asked for 2 billion.

Why? What would you gain from it?

 

[SLD76]

Why? What would you gain from it?

Your silence, for one

 

[Emet74]

Tennis fans and smart people are not going to have sympathy for a greedy multi millionaire like Roger Federer he's arrogant and he's a jerk.
If Federer is smart with his money he's set for life but he does come across as arrogant you can't compare Borg to Federer. Tennis players make much more money now. I think Federer has made over $70 million from his ATP earnings and he's probably made over $100 million from endorsements or even more. Federer is one of the wealthiest male athletes in the world he is super rich. To top it off Federer's family is wealthy.

You obviously don't know much about Fed. What's with the "wealthy" family? His parents are comfortable upper-middle class, no more than that.

He, of course, is very rich. But negotiations are about fairness and respect, not just money. My understanding is that Fed gave Basel a big discount for many years, and he may have received lesser appearance fees than Murray last year because of that.

In any event, the "greedy" one has already announced he intends to play Basel even WITHOUT any contract at all.

There has obviously been alot of behind-the-scenes trouble between the tourney director and Fed; we can't know the details of how things have played out.

 

[smoledman]

Fed is a self-made hundred-millionaire and deserves every penny of it. He earned it all on the court.

 

[Rjtennis]

That tournament director who is also the owner is a sleeze. At least Roger is man enough not to trash him in the papers.

 

[Sentinel]

Exactly. I think Fed is playing hard to get precisely due to that. He now has a valid excuse to not play Nadal.

btw, I hear those tainted "blood bags" are being destroyed


edit: i wonder how many milliion euros those guys put together for the judge to get that ruling.

 

[Flash O'Groove]

He, of course, is very rich. But negotiations are about fairness and respect, not just money. My understanding is that Fed gave Basel a big discount for many years, and he may have received lesser appearance fees than Murray last year because of that.

In any event, the "greedy" one has already announced he intends to play Basel even WITHOUT any contract at all.

There has obviously been alot of behind-the-scenes trouble between the tourney director and Fed; we can't know the details of how things have played out.

Exactly. What the tournament is asking it that Federer agree to gave them a discount, in order for them to make more money. I really doubt that they would agree to lower the ticket prices or rise the wages of the staff. They would keep everything penny for the owners.

 

[sbengte]

Found this on MTF ( posted by the user sdfedfans and is a translated summary of one of the comments on http://www.welovetennis.fr/federer/65689-federer-pas-paye )
Looks like there is some truth to it as there is a reference to Marc Rosset bringing it up in his commentary last year.

It seems that back in 2009 when the Swiss indoors lost their biggest sponsor ( Davidoff) Brennwald asked Roger to accept a fifty per cent decrease of his appearance fees so that the TD could find new sponsors... Roger agreed and promised the new sponsors he would play the tournament for the next 4 years - the sponsors also agreed to back the tournament for the same period.
Then last year Brennwald decided to go on holiday during the tournament and only came back to attend the final. This meant Roger had to deal himself with the sponsors who wanted new garantees regarding Roger's participation in the tournament in the coming years, but nothing could be decided as Brennwald was away on holidays.
Apparently during the final Marc Rosset talked about that on Swiss TV and said Roger was angry about this.
Then once the tournament was over Brennwald started rumours according to which Roger was too greedy and they couldn't afford to spend that much money on a player - remember the "We're not in Qatar" comments from the TD?
From that moment on Roger has let Godsick deal with the issue and has refused to speak with Brennwald.

 

[mariecon]

Exactly. I think Fed is playing hard to get precisely due to that. He now has a valid excuse to not play Nadal.

4-0 :lol:

 

[abmk]

4-0 :lol:

with only one set lost, a bagel and two breadsticks in those matches ...

 

[abmk]

So, an extra 1.5mill will ease Federer's pain of having to put up with this jerk...

Dollarer should stay home, Nadal's playing there this year so he's only going to lose anyway.

yes, nadal has to wait for federer to turn 32+ to finally get a win over him indoors .....and we still don't know how it will turn out to be if they do meet ...

oh and this thread content has been debunked and its the tournament director acting like an idiot with all his stupid comments ...

 

[tipsa...don'tlikehim!]

could he be worth 2 million with that haircut ?

what do you reckon?

 

[sureshs]

Your silence, for one

LOL Fed is not going to give you a single Euro from that money, even if he gets 2 billion.

Djokovic and Nadal are the stars and the tournament will be fine with just them.

 

[rajah84]

http://www.iol.co.za/sport/tennis/federer-slammed-by-swiss-1.1415695#.UJRqanXA_YE






What do you think about this?

I understand him asking 500 000$, but 2 mill is a bit too much don't you think?

I'm not surprised by this at all. Roger Federer, like so many others has fallen ill to the greed virus. He sold his soul long ago when he signed the contract allowing Nike to pimp him. But, honestly I am a little surprised that he would be bold enough to confront organizers with demands like that given it's his home event. But then he pretended to be friends with Tiger Woods for money so why not?

 

[rajah84]

could he be worth 2 million with that haircut ?

what do you reckon?

That's really weird and the more I look at it, disturbing. I don't think you should do that.

 

[rajah84]

Its interesting that when your negotiating partner doesn't like what you're asking for they rat you out in the media to try to pressure you to stay.

Its obviously not a priority for him to play Basel so he's pricing himself out of the event.

If that was so, why would he damage is rep and relationship with the event and home supporters? He could have just as easily said "no thanks" like he's done many seasons before.

 

[Relinquis]

could he be worth 2 million with that haircut ?

what do you reckon?

this is soooo gooood... we need a thread for this... the tennis haircut mishmash thread!

 

[pame]

Seems to me that if Fed took a 50% cut in his appearance fees for four straight years after davidhoff dropped sponsorship , there is more than money in this issue

 

[mariecon]

could he be worth 2 million with that haircut ?

what do you reckon?

creeeepy!!

 

[adil1972]

i am sure he will donate all this money too charity

hehehehheheheheh

 

[Povl Carstensen]

Djokovic and Nadal are the stars and the tournament will be fine with just them.

Yes Federer is not really a tennisstar.

 

[tipsa...don'tlikehim!]

creeeepy!!

Roger looks really scary and determined , he would have 25 slams at least with this look :lol:

 

[Harry_Wild]

In other words; Federer is not interested in playing Basel anymore! Leave it alone!

 

[Tennis_Hands]

In other words; Federer is not interested in playing Basel anymore! Leave it alone!

You fail!

Big time.

 

[tennisbuck]

this whole thing is turning into bad pr for fed i think he should just drop it and play for the 500,000 and wrap the issue up in a bow

 

[Nitish]

this is soooo gooood... we need a thread for this... the tennis haircut mishmash thread!

Yesssss.....We need a seperate thread for this