Tennis appearance fees are examined by Julie Cart in
the L.A. TIMES under the header "Show Me The Money: Is
Practice of Paying Top Players Appearance Fees Threatening
Integrity of Tennis Tours?" Appearance guarantees are not
allowed on the Corel WTA Tour, but Steffi Graf, "is under
investigation for an alleged pattern of accepting them."
The allegations against Graf were made last year during her
father's trial for tax evasion (L.A. TIMES, 3/12).
RULES CONFUSION? Cart noted that the "problem" with the
rules regarding "improper payments" conflicts with rules
that allow tournaments to pay for "player services." A
tournament director just has to "set up a personal-services
contract, or agree on a handshake deal" and no rules have
been broken. The acceptance of appearance fees inevitably
leads to questions of a players' effort. WTA Tour CEO Anne
Person Worcester says she "doesn't see a problem with fans
thinking the women are taking the money and running."
Worcester: "In 25 years of women's tennis ... players have
never had a reputation for tanking ... Can anyone argue that
Steffi Graf ever gave less than her full effort on the
court?" On the men's tour, appearance fees are permitted on
"third-tier events" only, with the philosophy that
"guarantees allow the smaller tournaments to compete and
draw fans." Todd Martin, President of the ATP Player
Council, admits that "some Championship Series events pay
appearance fees," and some reportedly "at least two Super
Nine tournaments pay guarantees." Martin estimates that
"everyone ranked in the top 40 gets some guarantee money."
After Richard Krajicek won Wimbledon last year, his earning
power "enjoyed an immediate boost." He now commands
$100,000-$150,000 in appearance fees (L.A. TIMES, 3/12).
LOSING STATUS? A report from Germany said Canada's du
Maurier Open and the Monte Carlo Open, "were going to lose
their elite ATP Super Nine status, possibly as early as
1998," according to Tom Tebbutt of the Toronto GLOBE & MAIL.
ATP Tour COO Larry Scott: "All of our TV and sponsorship
deals run through 1999, and it's unlikely we'd do anything
in terms of restructuring the tour until then" (Toronto
GLOBE & MAIL, 3/14).
