By Gillian Tan
Some top tennis players are suing the sport’s governing bodies for allegedly running a cartel that caps prize money, limits off-court earnings and restricts competition from rival tournaments.
The Professional Tennis Players Association, co-founded by Novak Djokovic and backed by billionaire Bill Ackman, filed a suit in New York federal court on Tuesday. A dozen current and former players including Nick Kyrgios, Vasek Pospisil and Sorana Cirstea are also part of the action. They claim the ATP Tour, WTA Tour and International Tennis Federation violate US antitrust laws by controlling players’ pay and working conditions.
Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios are part of legal action against the tennis tours.Credit: Getty Images
“Professional tennis players are stuck in a rigged game,” according to the suit. “Not on the court, where fierce competition between players delights millions of fans worldwide, but off of it, where players are forced to endure gruelling schedules, capped earnings, abusive and invasive investigations and discipline, and have limited control over their own careers and brands.”
The players likened their claim to earlier legal fights that led to free agency in American football and baseball, and rule changes in US college sports allowing students to receive cash compensation. Unlike other professional sports, which gives half their gross revenues to players, tennis shares less than 20 per cent, despite growing popularity with fans, the suit claims.
Higher pay
In recent years, Djokovic and Ackman have advocated for higher pay in tennis, which lags behind other sports. While top tennis pros can earn millions, the gap with low-ranked players is the widest of any major professional sport, according to an analysis by the Berkeley Economic Review at the University of California, Berkeley. The $US10 million ($15.7 million) earned by the No.1 tennis player in 2022, Carlos Alcaraz, was equal to the 202nd player in the National Football League and 146th in the National Basketball Association, the review showed.
The ATP and WTA tours disputed the claims and pledged to fight them in court, saying they’ve worked to expand compensation for players and welcomed their input on how tournaments are run and the future of the sport. A spokesman for the ITF declined to comment.
“While ATP has remained focused on delivering reforms that benefit players at multiple levels, the PTPA has consistently chosen division and distraction through misinformation over progress,” the ATP said in a statement. “Five years on from its inception in 2020, the PTPA has struggled to establish a meaningful role in tennis, making its decision to pursue legal action at this juncture unsurprising.”
“The WTA is fully committed to continuing to develop and evolve the structure and operations of professional women’s tennis, listening closely as always to the views of our players,” the WTA said in a statement. “Contesting this baseless legal case will divert time, attention, and resources from our core mission to the detriment of our players and the sport as a whole.”
According to the lawsuit, one key method used by the tennis governing bodies to keep player pay low is by locking them into a closed system of tournaments and enforcing agreements that bar the athletes from competing in other professional events.
In 2012, billionaire Larry Ellison sought to increase total prize money by $US1.6 million at his tournament, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, but the ATP and WTA rejected his proposal, saying it would put pressure on other tour-sponsored tournaments to boost payouts, the players said. ATP and WTA don’t allow any of its tour events to pay more prize money than the sport’s four marquee grand slam events – the Australian Open, Wimbledon, Roland-Garros and the US Open – a restriction that amounts to a “price-fixing conspiracy,” the complaint says.
Some players still manage to compete in alternative events, including Ultimate Tennis Showdown, and the top-ranked athletes in the sport can earn hefty pay cheques. Djokovic, who’s won a record 24 grand slam titles, is the all-time leader in career prize money at $US186.2 million ($293 million). But restrictions imposed by ATP and WTA is preventing players at all levels from earning even more, according to the suit.
Limiting endorsements
Off the court, the governing bodies limit sponsorship and endorsement deals, in part by making players give up some name, image and likeness rights as a condition of competing in ATP and WTA events, the complaint says. They also control the number of sponsors allowed to be displayed on a players’ shirt, hat, towel and bag, and the size of any ads, according to the lawsuit.
For example, a player wouldn’t be able to accept an endorsement deal to carry a racquet bag with a Louis Vuitton or Gucci logo because those brands aren’t ATP or WTA-approved tennis equipment manufacturers, the complaint says. The players also alleged they are barred from endorsing sports betting companies, unlike other professional athletes, like basketball player LeBron James.
According to the suit, the tours use a draconian system of ranking points players must earn to enter tournaments and compulsory attendance rules for ATP and WTA events, all of which “funnels players away from” alternatives and restricts competition.
The lawsuit said the ATP and WTA are working on a possible merger that “would exacerbate” the restrictive hold that the two tours have over players, who pledged to challenge it in court.
Also named as a defendant in the case was the International Tennis Integrity Agency, a non-profit founded by the ATP and WTA to enforce anti-doping and anti-corruption measures in the sport. The lawsuit accused the ITIA of abusive investigations and discipline, saying players are subjected to dozens of drug tests, invasive searches of their cell phones and forced to sign illegal arbitration agreements for any disputes.
This year’s Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner is serving a three-month ban.Credit: Eddie Jim
In a statement, the ITIA said “credible international sport requires robust anti-doping and anti-corruption programs, and we are proud of our role in contributing to a clean and fair sport. The ITIA seeks to uphold the highest standards in our work, following best practice and appropriate rules throughout the management of cases, from intelligence gathering through to investigations and, where applicable, sanctions.”
World No.1 Jannik Sinner is serving a three-month ban for twice testing positive to a banned steroid. Sinner said the violation wasn’t intentional and that his massage therapist used a spray that contained trace amounts of the substance.
