Tipsarevic: "pay in tennis is ridiculously low"

[dominikk1985]

Okay, so we lack data to make intelligent contributions. Let's have all the figures on the table and then see if players are being exploited, as it now seems. The problem lies in the fact that tennis players aren't unionized and cannot bargain as a block fairly and efficiently with tournament organizers.

wasn't the ATP a players union originally? I think it was even founded after a players strike.

 

[nereis]

While I'd like the percentage take for the player in the slams to increase, it just isn't going to happen for the foreseeable future so long as being a major champion wins you long term monetary benefits greater than the prize money on offer.

There a lot more value to being a slam winner than simply the prize money, and that is reflected across the pay distribution that they can get away with.

Being a champion at a major guarantees you some lucrative endorsements and the non-tangible value post career of being a potential hall of famer (can you say tennis academy?).

So in pure monetary terms, a slam is essentially a normal tournament except with a more grueling schedule, more media exposure PLUS bigger prize money. Seeing as how most casual fans will never watch a non-slam event this is a huge upside to players who need more media exposure to get those endorsements (by winning matches of course).

This post lacks a lot of nuance regarding utility to the players in a slam (but I'm not exactly writing a paper on expected non-immediate flow-on effects of media exposure here) but I think can help explain why, despite lower payout as a percentage, no strikes have yet taken place.

If however, prize money was in fact the real complaint I'm sure all these journeymen would be willing to go play an alternative tournament that will pay them higher amounts than what they would expect to win in a slam (perhaps R1/R2 levels of money). I surmise that many would not however, as most would (probably over-optimistically) hold out for the big break of 'going hot' and making it deep.

 

[trilix]

Tipsarevic is right. Just look at his hotelroom at the French Open. Looked more like a dorm... (Tipsy Time @ Eurosport)

 

[TopFH]

Tennis players being under- or overpaid is not the real issue, IMO. I believe that sports have way too much money in them. I know it is what the people want to see, but, is there a way to justify some football (European) stars earning $20 mill. from their clubs?

 

[Steady Eddy]

Tennis players being under- or overpaid is not the real issue, IMO. I believe that sports have way too much money in them. I know it is what the people want to see, but, is there a way to justify some football (European) stars earning $20 mill. from their clubs?

Sure there is. That pay isn't determined by some government bureaucrat using tax money. It comes from fans who willing spend money to support their team.

 

[Bartelby]

All the government tax money goes into subsidising the costs of new stadia and thereby lining the pockets of billionaires.

Sure there is. That pay isn't determined by some government bureaucrat using tax money. It comes from fans who willing spend money to support their team.

 

[Bartelby]

Tennis is not a team sport within a single league structure so players have less bargaining power than they otherwise might.

Tennis players being under- or overpaid is not the real issue, IMO. I believe that sports have way too much money in them. I know it is what the people want to see, but, is there a way to justify some football (European) stars earning $20 mill. from their clubs?

 

[hoodjem]

Of course not. It's not as if they are teachers and thus have a truly significant, direct impact on the lives of a lot of young people.

 

[Gizo]

Sure there is. That pay isn't determined by some government bureaucrat using tax money. It comes from fans who willing spend money to support their team.

In the UK I laugh at the never ending gripes from people that footballers are overpaid, often from people who pay for expensive season tickets and especially tv subscriptions for our sports channels, and are therefore part of the reason why they earn so much in the first place.

Comparisons with nurses, teachers etc are completely useless. I regularly work more than 60 a hours a week, but nobody wants to pay for tickets or tv subscriptions to watch me at my desk (as thrilling as that would be) so of course I don’t deserve to earn anywhere close to that of footballers.

Football, especially the English Premier League, generations billions of pounds and is broadcasted across the globe (I read that the English Premier League generates the same amount of TV revenue in Singapore alone, as the German Bundesliga generates in total from foreign TV rights outside Germany). So of course the entertainers putting on that show and generating that revenue deserved to get paid a lot of money.

I guess the most powerful argument for footballers being overpaid, is despite the huge revenues that clubs are generating, a lot of them also have huge debts.

Also provided that footballers don’t go to extreme lengths to avoid (legal) or evade (illegal) paying tax, the large values of income tax that they paid on their earnings goes towards and benefits public services.

 

[Steady Eddy]

All the government tax money goes into subsidising the costs of new stadia and thereby lining the pockets of billionaires.

You have a point. Subsidizing professional sports is about as ridiculous a thing as could be done.

 

[MatsPhilander]

Boo hoo, maybe go out in the real world & try living on a minimum wage job-which may be eaten into by travel. This from a guy who made over 8 million dollars in his career. If you aren't good enough to make it to a decent level after a few years then you shouldn't be playing the game anyway. The reality is a mediocrity like Tomic has earned 5.5 million dollars just in prize money & tens of million in endorsements according to him without ever even being a top ten player & making a solitary slam quarter. All you have to do is get to the top 50 in the world these days & you are set for life. Tennis has a ridiculously bloated system where constant levels of at best mediocre performance are rewarded to some extent year in & year out.

 

[AtomicBernie]

Boo hoo, maybe go out in the real world & try living on a minimum wage job-which may be eaten into by travel. This from a guy who made over 8 million dollars in his career. If you aren't good enough to make it to a decent level after a few years then you shouldn't be playing the game anyway. The reality is a mediocrity like Tomic has earned 5.5 million dollars just in prize money & tens of million in endorsements according to him without ever even being a top ten player & making a solitary slam quarter. All you have to do is get to the top 50 in the world these days & you are set for life. Tennis has a ridiculously bloated system where constant levels of at best mediocre performance are rewarded to some extent year in & year out.

I also own some apartments in my hometown and other places. Just find some good tenants and keep the money flowing in steadily. Smart investment I tell y'all.