John Isner criticizes price cuts: "ATP is a broken system"
After it became known that the ATP Masters 1000 event in Miami - like so many tournaments - will significantly reduce its prize money due to COVID-19, the American John Isner has massively criticized this fact via Twitter.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Feb 26, 2021, 09:45 am
"The ATP is a broken system. Players and tournaments have to work together as" partners ", but a 60 percent reduction (note on the total prize money) and an 80 percent reduction in the champions' (note on prize money) at one of our biggest events the TV, data, sponsorship and newly approved gambling revenue is not a partnership at all, "wrote John Isner on Twitter after" Tennis Majors "announced the key dates for the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the 2021 calendar year.
The American demands an audit to determine how severe the financial damage for the tournament organizers actually is due to the (partially) empty ranks and then a "formula" to ensure a fair distribution of the income. "It's amazing that we still don't have that at many of our big events. How can that make sense?", Isner continues.
Isner: "A bit hypocritical"
In addition, the service giant denounces a lack of transparency in tennis, which does not exist in this way in the NBA, NHL and the like. "Tennis is plagued by conflicts and a lack of transparency," said Isner. According to this, tournament organizers have an unlimited amount of time to monetize their position, whereas the players would only have a limited amount of time due to the natural half-life of a career. "This is a broken system," emphasizes Isner.
In particular, the US-American finds out that there are such drastic price cuts for the players, but that the senior management of the ATP continues to receive full salaries and full additional benefits. "That should make sense. Seems to be a bit hypocritical, don't you think?" Isner writes.
On the other hand, there are tournament organizers such as the Australian Open, who complained about a record loss of around 65 million euros after the 2021 staging. The reason: a lack of audience income due to the COVID-19 restrictions.