C
Chadillac
Guest
I dont even think you own a racket, your just repeating myths others have in the past. Ive played long enough to spot you guys
NFL player gave up tennis, turned to football for financial reasons. Top 400 must be paid more.
- Thread starter HunterST
- Start date
I dont even think you own a racket, your just repeating myths others have in the past. Ive played long enough to spot you guys
Tennis is a global sport
Biggest individual sport
Most gender parity and most lucrative sport for females by far
Main negative factor in global stakes is exceptionally small uptake in many countries (as a pose to 0 for soccer)
High costs, barriers to entry
Many people play especiay in adulthood but very few people play from age 3 or 4 which is ideal to be a pro.
Seasonal sport - again many people play but not all year round and do so occasionay or not as their main sport. Even pros almost all of them.heavily played soccer as kids
Although not completwly clear cut and with some caveats It is not as global as soccer, basketball, cricket, rugby. Remember i said some caveats( e.g. rugby low uptake in some places and again like tennis nkt.common primary sport) but it is not as global as those. Google stats etc
HunterST
Hall of Fame
Soccer is the undisputed king. Basketball has really taken off and is probably the undisputed number 2. Tennis is bigger than rugby.
Here is a list that puts tennis at 4 in the world behind soccer, basketball, and cricket. Seems about right to me, although I know this list is not the end-all-be-all.
http://www.totalsportek.com/most-popular-sports/
I dont even think you own a racket, your just repeating myths others have in the past. Ive played long enough to spot you guys
What do you mean im writing this from brazil where tennis is all the rage. Its no1 primary/main sport of most sport playing people. Of course i play tennis. Jokes im from jamaica where tennis is our main sport. Jokes im from bolivia, china, senegal, the entire middle east. Jokes im from the entire continent of africa. Tennis is huge. No one plays football
Every inner city poor kid is playing tennis from age 4. No one plays basketball or soccer. Plus its definetly age 4 i started from not age 20 when i saw wimbeldon on so gave it a crack for two weeks and offcially count as a "tennis player" in stats
Only kidding im from the UK where tennis is everyones main sport in the 2 days per year it is nkt raining or two weeks of wimby. Fooled ya im from France. Everyone plays tennis from age 4 (its definitely not a casual play at some point in your twenties for a weeks occasionally sport no everyone plays from age 4)
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Yes, I agree with that, but the ATP would want the pie to be bigger, even if only because it means their office bearers receive higher pay. Some leading players (Roddick in the past and I think Djokovic more recently) have talked about the conflict between the ATP being both the governing body and supposedly representing player interests. Definitely the body representing player interests should separate from the body running the tour if the players are to maximise their share of the spoils.
darrinbaker00
Professional
I know how. If you want to make more money, win more matches.
C
Chadillac
Guest
Like the op says, money isnt there. A good 400-1000 rank tourney is only paying $1500.
Without a sponsor its very hard. Making it to the tournament is one thing, being your best on a cot isnt.
I dont see a way for lower tier tournaments to get more unless they unionize. The high council see's no reason to, 3mil at us open now
RVAtennisaddict
Professional
They don't rank surgeons, but people watch surgeons operate all the time. And I find I learn as much if not more from watching not as proficient surgeons as I do from the very best.
darrinbaker00
Professional
At that level, the ranking points are more valuable than the prize money anyway. Win enough at the Futures level, you move up to Challengers. Win enough at the Challenger level and break the top 100, you get direct entry into the four majors and start making some real money ($50,000 for 2017 US Open first round). The lower levels weren't designed for players to make a comfortable living.
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DennaFrances
New User
its not even about making a living. You can't break even traveling around playing future tournaments. Hotels, plane tickets, coaching fees. If you don't have a sponsor footing the bill. The prize alone is going to have you in the red. I forget this board is so disconnected to the pro circuit besides what they see on TV.
Mischa zverev himself was struggling hard until his brother got sponsored which helped him out. He would have never gotten a chance to beat murray regarding your system of lol just win more.
HunterST
Hall of Fame
Yeah, that’s the exact problem we’re pointing out. For tennis to compete with other sports, it needs to offer more people a viable way to make a living. 100 in the world just doesn’t cut it. That’s around 10 in the US. How many people in the world are making a living off of baseball?
Do you think the lowest performing players on mlb teams have a pure market value of the league minimum of $500,000 per year? No.
They are paid that much because 1. Players unionized to fight for it and 2. The MLB recognizes that treating players well will attract more players and keep them around.
Roddick85
Hall of Fame
Do lower ranked players deserve more money to at least break even and make a decent living? Absolutely.
Will things ever change? Probably not unless there's some kind of players union of some sort. Otherwise, much like anything else, sport is a business first and foremost and basic economics dictate a players payout. Top talent usually gets paid top dollars in any fields because it's rare, sport isn't any different in that regard.
Will things ever change? Probably not unless there's some kind of players union of some sort. Otherwise, much like anything else, sport is a business first and foremost and basic economics dictate a players payout. Top talent usually gets paid top dollars in any fields because it's rare, sport isn't any different in that regard.
darrinbaker00
Professional
I have attended my share of Challenger tournaments, and I have spoken to my share of Challenger-level players. They have told me how they have to stay four in a room at a hotel, how they have to eat at fast-food or casual dining restaurants, and how they have to practice at the nearest public park. I just can't garner any sympathy for them, because at the end of the day, THEY ARE PLAYING TENNIS FOR A LIVING. I would gladly trade places with the #400 player in the world, and I would bet everything I own that he would gladly switch back after one week.
darrinbaker00
Professional
Apples and oranges, Hunter. Baseball players are salaried employees, tennis players are independent contractors.
HunterST
Hall of Fame
Yes, that life sounds kind of fun, but it isn't sustainable. It costs money. No matter how much fun a player is having (which I imagine declines at a rapidly after the original novelty wears off), they have to question if it is financially viable to fight and claw their way up the ranks. Even if they make to around 100 in the world, they're only looking at making around 100K for MAYBE 5 years.
I think this is exactly the point. There are different models of business that are more efficient at paying athletes. We need to explore options and try to find an answer.
Think about how many companies pay 500 employees a good salary. I just don't buy that a sport as big as tennis can't do at least as well.
torpantennis
Legend
Problem with individual sports vs. team sports, ppl do care about teams and every players in it whereas who cares about individual sportsmen outside top100? I know I don't none.
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