Tennis Book 2009 - TIA UK

The Sport of Tennis
money and the sport’s subsequent commercialisation has
helped to develop the game to what it is today, much to the
chagrin of the traditionalists.
Tennis these days is, indeed, big business. Globally, it has
certainly reached the multi-billion dollar mark. What one can’t
state at present is how many people are involved in the sport,
but it must be over a million in a wide variety of companies,
both large and small,
and they all in turn are
providing products
and services, directly
and indirectly, to the
sport.
Before Open tennis
there were no trade
associations in the
sport but now there is
a plethora of them
starting with the two
player associations,
the Association of
Tennis Professionals
(ATP) and the
Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). Similarly, associations for
umpires, journalists, contractors, and the tennis trade itself, the
TIA in the States followed by the TIA UK ten years ago, have
sprung up to promote and protect the interests of their
members.
However, prize money is the usual measure by which outsiders
gauge the sport and given the fact that Roger Federer has
pocketed some $38 million over nine years, plus endorsements
to a similar value, one can understand why people believe that
tennis is affluent. Similarly, the Wimbledon surplus which
annually bolsters the coffers of our national governing body, the
LTA, for the benefit of British tennis, currently averaging some
£25 million (but has topped the £30 million), is another.
As I said at the start of my preamble, Wimbledon basically
personifies tennis. It has been at the forefront of the game for
over a century and in some ways ironically, despite being
steeped in tradition, it is a very commercial operation. Its
appeal within its Club environment is why it has successfully
maintained its reputation of being the best in the world. And I
can’t see it ever losing that status.
Below:
The LTA’s National Tennis Centre in Roehampton.
Picture: Tennis Today
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