Menu
Finance

Australian Open Prize Money Could Break A$50M Mark In '17

Australian Open prize money is pushing toward the A$50M ($37M) barrier, "with another substantial increase imminent and only the finer details of the record sum's distribution still being negotiated by Tennis Australia and player governing bodies the ATP and the WTA," according to Linda Pearce of THE AGE. Unlike the stand-off between the Australian Football League and its players' association over the terms of the parties' new collective bargaining agreement, the tennis grand slams and their star attractions have had "less difficulty coming to satisfactory terms in recent years." The threat of strike action in '12 "paved the way for a series of significant prize pool increases at the four majors, starting at Melbourne Park, and this is expected to be another." Tournament Dir Craig Tiley confirmed that the "push to better compensate the more lowly-ranked players in relative terms was also likely to continue." Tiley said, "We've been working with both the WTA and the ATP on the distribution, and once that's finalized in the next week or so we'll be able to announce [the prize money details]. You can expect an increase; to what extent we'll be able to tell you then." Tiley reiterated the Open's commitment to what he called "leading the way" in prize money agenda-setting. In '12, for example, first-round losers in the main draw received A$20,000, and the singles champion A$2.3M. This year, participation guaranteed at least A$38,500 ($28,488), "while the title winner's purse had risen" by almost 48% to A$3.4M ($2.5M). Tiley: "We've been always the first to respond on player compensation." In '13, the year after the possibility of industrial action was flagged, total Australian Open prize money "soared" by 15% to A$30M, and the past three tournaments have been worth A$33M, A$40M and A$44M, respectively. This season, the US Open was again "the most lucrative major," with total prize money of A$62.5M ($46.4M), ahead of Wimbledon A$55.41M ($41M) and the French Open A$48.6M ($36M). Tiley said that ticket presales were "on par" with last year, when a record crowd of 720,363 attended over the fortnight. The "long-range weather forecast is also encouraging" (THE AGE, 12/1).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

Sports Business Awards nominees unveiled; NWSL's historic opening weekend and takeaways from CFP deal

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, BTN’s Meghan McKeown, and a deep dive into AppleTV+’s The Dynasty

On this week’s Sports Media Podcast from the New York Post and Sports Business Journal, ESPN’s Jay Bilas talks all things NCAA. Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown shares her insight into the Caitlin Clark craze. The Boston Globe’s Chad Finn chats all things Bean Town. And SBJ’s Xavier Hunter drops in to share his findings on how the NWSL is making a social media push.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2016/12/02/Finance/Australian-Open-money.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2016/12/02/Finance/Australian-Open-money.aspx

CLOSE