experience so enjoyable that they choose to return the following year. 

Wimbledon has had a long tradition of placing the top seeded players in a separate locker room.  Now some regular Tour tournaments are following their lead.  At the recent ATP Masters tournament in Shanghai, China, apparently each of the top eight seeds in singles and top two doubles teams were given their own private living rooms, bathrooms and locker rooms.  The tournament’s player dining room featured cuisine by a one-star Michelin chef who was flown in for the tournament from Italy.  Not too shabby for a first-year Masters 1000 tournament (the ATP Masters Cup had been in Shanghai for several years).  Other major tournaments provide cars, etc. to the top players.  As one tournament flies in a top chef or provides special services for the top seeds, it places pressure on other tournaments to follow suit.  Clearly, there are significant costs associated with these special player services which must be factored into the tournament’s operating budget.  There is also a “trickle down effect” on smaller tournaments because as the bar is raised in terms of how players are treated at top tier events, there are increased expectations on the part of players competing in all tournaments.  What will be in the “goody bag”?  Will there be an on-site hair salon?  Are players given their own cars?  If so, is it a luxury brand?  

In professional team sports, there are many special amenities in the player locker rooms and the teams often fly on chartered jets.  Nonetheless, these are team sports so there is not as much “personalized” treatment or amenities given to the very top stars.  Professional tennis is big business and each tournament is a major sporting and entertainment event in its respective city that week.  Tournaments need the players to sell tickets.  As a result, long gone are the days of wood benches and plain steel lockers.  The competition between tournaments for players will continue to push the stakes even higher in terms of how well the players are treated… lucky for them!

Posted by TC at 07:05 PM || Comments (0)