Money coming in has allowed Tennis Australia to spend huge sums on growing the OpenGETTY IMAGES
This year's Australian Open is underway and "should see more financial records broken," as ticket sales last week "were tracking 20-25 per cent higher than the same time a year ago and revenue will surge to a record high," according to John Stensholt of THE AUSTRALIAN. Tennis Australia is beginning a new six-year, $249M (all figures U.S.) broadcast deal with Nine Entertainment and has signed $7.19M-plus "annual sponsorship deals" with Kia and Chinese spirits brand 1715. Lucrative deals across several sponsorship categories are "set to expire, as is a broadcast deal" with ESPN. Those renewals will "bring in even more revenue." The money coming in has "allowed Tennis Australia to spend huge sums on growing the Open into a sporting, food and entertainment event that dominates Melbourne for two weeks." Tennis Australia will also hold a $359,000 event for "Fortnite" after "striking an agreement" with developer Riot Games. Meanwhile, last year's Australian Open "attracted a record audience of 743,000 over the two weeks," but the chances of exceeding that figure is "usually dependent on weather forecasts." Still, Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said that the "signs are positive." Tiley: "We are ahead of budget even though we have dropped some ticket prices, and we are pretty aggressive with our budget targets" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 1/12).
THE GOLD STANDARD: THEHINDU.com’s Preethi Ramamoorthy wrote the Australian Open now "sets the standard for player facilities and spectator experience." In this year's entry list, the world's "top 102 women and 101 men confirmed their attendance." In recent years, players have "repeatedly cited the facilities as being superior to any other Slam." The Australian Open has "stretched its purse" to $45.1M, an increase of 14% over last year. Tiley said, "The majority of these increases will be directed towards the players in qualifying, early rounds and doubles" (THEHINDU.com, 1/11).
