Is Tennis the Most Financially Unforgiving Sports?

[Otacon]

I've just watched a video that got me thinking about how brutal the financial reality is for most professional tennis players.

The video compared tennis earnings to other sports, and the numbers were eye-opening. Even when looking at other individual sports like golf, badminton, or table tennis, tennis players have to grind much harder for a sustainable income. And when you put it next to team sports, it’s even worse. Jannik Sinner, the highest-paid male player last year, would rank outside the top 80 in NBA salaries.

A few big takeaways that stood out:

- Only about 300 male players and 259 female players actually make enough from the sport to cover expenses.

- Tournament taxes and personal income taxes take huge chunks out of earnings, forcing many players to relocate to low-tax countries.

- Travel, coaching, and equipment costs mean that even a player ranked around 300th needs to spend around $65,000 per year just to compete.

- Unlike many other sports, only 17% of the revenue generated by tennis goes to the players, compared to around 50% in most major leagues.


One of the most shocking stats was that the top 10 players alone take 25% of all prize money in the sport. The financial gap in tennis is worse than in football, basketball, or even golf. And while prize money is increasing, the structure of the sport still heavily favors the very top players while leaving the rest to fend for themselves.

 

[Berrettini_Fan]

Golf plus most winter olympic sports are even more financially unforgiving.

 

[JMR]

The video compared tennis earnings to other sports, and the numbers were eye-opening. Even when looking at other individual sports like golf, badminton, or table tennis

Whoa -- let's not go overboard. An important TT tournament in China just finished. It featured all the top players from Asia and Europe. Table tennis does not have the same tournament structure as tennis (no four slams per year setup), but I'd say this event was roughly equivalent to a 1000 tourney, like Indian Wells. Do you know what the prize money was for the men's singles champion? $60,000!

Some TT players do have the opportunity to play in team leagues to earn money in a different way (e.g., the German Bundesliga), and some players may be state-sponsored for all I know, but TT is not a very rich sport. Just try to make living from it as an American! I know people who tried & mostly failed. Our current U.S. no. 1 spends most of his time in Germany.

Tennis does have more of a winner-take-all mentality than most other sports, which keeps the bulk of players poor.

 

[jimmy8]

Formula 1 is the most expensive sport.

 

[RSJfan]

I've just watched a video that got me thinking about how brutal the financial reality is for most professional tennis players.

Jannik Sinner, the highest-paid male player last year, would rank outside the top 80 in NBA salaries.

Most of the $$$ made by top players is from off-court revenue.

- Only about 300 male players and 259 female players actually make enough from the sport to cover expenses.

The issue of how many players the tour can and should support has been mulled about for years. Ask yourself how much you would pay to watch players ranked above 300 or if you would even sit at home and watch on TV. Not a player that spends a few minutes at 300+ like a tour newbie but a player that is maxed out above 300.

One of the most shocking stats was that the top 10 players alone take 25% of all prize money in the sport. The financial gap in tennis is worse than in football, basketball, or even golf. And while prize money is increasing, the structure of the sport still heavily favors the very top players while leaving the rest to fend for themselves.

Not only do I not find it not at all shocking I think there is an argument the very top players are underpaid as a proportion of the total pie. It’s a very star driven sport. They are driving ticket sales and broadcast viewing numbers.

 

[socallefty]

I think my post from the other thread is relevant here too. Is it better for tennis to subsidize lower levels and have a better turnover of young opponents for the top stars or is it OK to make young players leave the sport quickly for financial reasons? Why should tennis play players such a low % of revenue compared to other pro sports? Obviously the tournament organizers are pocketing an extra 30% of revenue compared to other pro sports. Is that good for the sport or is it better if that extra money is used to subsidize players at lower levels so that they can survive on tour for longer and try to have a better pipeline of players making to the top.

In other pro sports, the money from the top level is used to subsidize lower levels because the sport wants to have a good developmental system where many young players can make a good living and persist in the sport. In the long term, it helps the top level have more talent, increase the quality of the game, provide better entertainment and make more money for the sport. In tennis, about 150 players on each tour can make a living with positive income and unless they have an organizational or private sponsor, their window to succeed is very short. Most tennis players give up fairly quickly on their chance of making it to the top not because they don’t have enough talent, but because they don’t have money to continue. If they have injuries, it is even harder for them to get proper treatment including rehab and make it back. It would be good if this is changed so that more young players can make a good living and we have more turnover within the top 50-100 with more young talent coming up. At least for me, it would make the sport more interesting as there is not much fun in watching a lot of old journeymen play in their 15th year on tour if they never made it to the elite level - I would rather see young players having a better chance to make it to the top and more turnover within the top 150.

Also in many American pro sports, the players get 45-55% of revenue and that was secured by past players protesting, striking, arriving at collective bargaining agreements etc. In addition, the teams play for travel, coaches and many other expenses. Supposedly in tennis the players are paid less than 20% of the revenue and they pay for everything out of their own pocket. This is why many hundreds of players in other sports can make a good living unlike tennis. So, it makes sense for me that the players would want a higher % of revenue as they are the ones that are doing the entertaining. Even if the top players are the main draw for fans, the tour is more healthy if the opponents are good enough to give them close matches and create some upsets. So it is healthy for the sport to take care of hundreds of players rather than a select few and the only way this happens is if the players get a bigger % of revenue.

We also don’t know what rights tennis player sign away to become eligible to play on the tours and how that compares to labor laws in the countries they play for contractors and in comparison to other international sports. The few bits of information provided about the lawsuits makes it seem like players have complaints in many of these areas also.

I definitely wish the players luck even though I have no idea how strong a case they have as independent contractors doing business in many countries. Maybe just the prospect of having lawsuits in multiple countries might give them more leverage in negotiations with the tennis authorities and that might be what they are looking for. It sounds like the negotiations haven’t yielded much otherwise in the last few years.

The problem in tennis is that usually the top players have the same interests as the tournaments and they don’t want to take more tournament revenue and pay more money to young players and give them a better chance to displace them at the top. The tournaments pay a lot to the top players to keep them happy and then keep 80% of the revenue for themselves which is much higher than other popular pro sports. That is why the sport doesn’t change more quickly and the tour is very stagnant at the top 150 level with very little turnover.

 

[emkayenaim]

Whoa -- let's not go overboard. An important TT tournament in China just finished. It featured all the top players from Asia and Europe. Table tennis does not have the same tournament structure as tennis (no four slams per year setup), but I'd say this event was roughly equivalent to a 1000 tourney, like Indian Wells. Do you know what the prize money was for the men's singles champion? $60,000!

Some TT players do have the opportunity to play in team leagues to earn money in a different way (e.g., the German Bundesliga), and some players may be state-sponsored for all I know, but TT is not a very rich sport. Just try to make living from it as an American! I know people who tried & mostly failed. Our current U.S. no. 1 spends most of his time in Germany.

Tennis does have more of a winner-take-all mentality than most other sports, which keeps the bulk of players poor.

There's already a slam in table tennis - WTT Grand Smash.

 

[InsuranceMan]

Whoa -- let's not go overboard. An important TT tournament in China just finished. It featured all the top players from Asia and Europe. Table tennis does not have the same tournament structure as tennis (no four slams per year setup), but I'd say this event was roughly equivalent to a 1000 tourney, like Indian Wells. Do you know what the prize money was for the men's singles champion? $60,000!

Some TT players do have the opportunity to play in team leagues to earn money in a different way (e.g., the German Bundesliga), and some players may be state-sponsored for all I know, but TT is not a very rich sport. Just try to make living from it as an American! I know people who tried & mostly failed. Our current U.S. no. 1 spends most of his time in Germany.

Tennis does have more of a winner-take-all mentality than most other sports, which keeps the bulk of players poor.

Yeah and then how much do you have to invest in a career starting from when you’re a kid in tennis vs table tennis. That **** expensive as hell.

Development should be considered in all this, it’s not just when you start playing futures

 

[tennis24x7]

Yeah and then how much do you have to invest in a career starting from when you’re a kid in tennis vs table tennis. That **** expensive as hell.

Development should be considered in all this, it’s not just when you start playing futures

I think this is a very good post as anyone can get a TT table, not so in tennis. I think with all things said Tennis is more expensive when coaching is considered. The top junior coaches ask for an obscene amount of money. I really fail to understand how these Russian players can afford tennis academies.