ATP BOD Taps Former Nike Exec Adam Helfant To Lead Men's Tennis

By Daniel Kaplan, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

ATP BOD Taps Helfant To Lead Men's Tennis Tour

The ATP board of directors has selected former Nike Global Sports Marketing VP Adam Helfant to lead the men’s tennis circuit, multiple tennis sources said. Helfant is still negotiating an employment contract, the sources said, but an announcement about his selection could come as soon as next week or by the start of next week’s Australian Open. Helfant, 44, is somewhat of a surprise choice to replace South African Etienne de Villiers, who departed as Exec Chair at the end of '08. Conventional thinking in the sport was that the new ATP head would be a European and would come from within tennis, unlike de Villiers. Neither of those characteristics applies to Helfant. Helfant would relocate to London, where the ATP is headquartered, for the job, the sources said, presuming the employment contract is completed. The ATP declined to comment, and Helfant did not reply to a request for comment.

PLAYERS' SUPPORT: SI.com’s Jon Wertheim wrote of Helfant: “I was told that the top players (which often means their agents and advisors) strongly supported his candidacy and thought highly of the global nature of his work at Nike.” As for his challenges, Wertheim added, “It's not quite Obama territory, but he has his work cut out for him from Day 1. One of the big jobs entails replacing Mercedes and shoring up the ATP's sponsorships, no small challenge in these times” (SI.com, 1/7).