How Valuable is a Tennis Tournament?
Last year, the French Open sued (and lost against) several European betting companies in an attempt to stop online betting on the 2008 French Open. The French Tennis Federation was concerned that the value of Roland Garros could be adversely affected if there were to be a match fixing scandal related to online betting. In 2008, the French Open generated an estimated $175 million in revenue. The USTA generates approximately 85% of its annual
revenue from the U.S. Open (the remainder comes from membership dues) which produces an estimated $195 million each year. Sponsorship and broadcasting rights generate about fifty percent of the revenue, approximately $80 million from ticket sales and the remainder is generated from merchandise sales, concessions, etc. On the expense side of the equation, the U.S. Open paid over $20 million in prize money to the players last year, as well $13.4 million on marketing, $2.4 million for insurance, $1.2 million for promotional items and gifts, approximately $2 million to the city of New York City. At the same time, The U.S. Open tennis tournament generates a windfall for the New York City businesses. According to a NYC Comptroller’s office 2001 study, the overall impact of the U.S. open on New York City is over $400 million which is more than the combined economic activity of the New York Mets and New York Yankees during the same timeframe. In the end, one could “value” a tournament by tallying the figures described above such as sponsorship money, TV and digital rights sales, prize money, ticket and merchandise sales, as well as factoring in the expenses. Any way that you analyze it, professional tennis tournaments are big business!
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