Why most tennis players struggle to make a living

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10 ай бұрын

Tennis fails where other sports provide a living for their players.
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During the US Open in New York, Vox video sat down with professional tennis players and the head of the Professional Tennis Players Association to explain the pay problem in the top-five global sport. Tennis is unique among other professional sports in how players are paid, what costs they are responsible for, and how they are categorized as independent contractors. The result is that - unless you are consistently among the very top-ranked players like Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, and Naomi Osaka - it’s nearly impossible to make a living with income from tennis alone.
Unlike other sports that provide support for people outside the very top performers, tennis leaves them high and dry.
In 2021, Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil co-founded a players organization in part to try to address these issues they believe pose an existential threat to the sport. It’s called the Professional Tennis Players Association, and Vox video worked with it to interview players and the organization’s president to shed light on the structural issues that cause such a pay disparity when compared with other global sports.
The Professional Tennis Players Association site:
www.ptpaplayers.com/
New York Times magazine published a great magazine piece on this issue:
www.nytimes.com/2021/06/29/ma...
And a more recent ESPN piece on the issue:
www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/i...
For a profile on Taylor Townsend:
www.nytimes.com/2023/01/18/sp...
The ATP will be trialing a minimum wage for players starting next year:
www.reuters.com/sports/tennis....
Vox is an explanatory newsroom on a mission to help everyone understand our weird, wonderful, complicated world, so that we can all help shape it. Part of that mission is keeping our work free. You can help us do that by making a gift: www.vox.com/givenow
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Пікірлер: 1 500

@charlesmoxey8122 10 ай бұрын

Wow. I knew tennis didn't have the best payment structure but I didn't know it was this bad. Thank you Vox for bringing this to light

@bsktballman08 10 ай бұрын

They’re lying, as usual.

@charlesmoxey8122 10 ай бұрын

@@bsktballman08 Proof?

@xfg007 10 ай бұрын

Novak Djokovic has been saying this for ages, that's why he founded the PTPA

@kacemat 10 ай бұрын

@bsktballman08 they really aren't. Honestly, you barely make money from the sport, especially when your below the top 100. The most money you will probably make is from the sponsorships

@ChiliM4n 10 ай бұрын

And thanks Djokovic for making aware of this and since years trying to have a better pay for small players at his own expense.

@jaredvaughan1665 10 ай бұрын

I support Djokovic's efforts to create a player's union.

@daariashaheen6411 10 ай бұрын

Is this the reason why he is so hated ?

@grokker99 10 ай бұрын

If players are employees theyll have to follow employer rules.

@tylerdracing 10 ай бұрын

@@daariashaheen6411 No, that would give him positive support. Negativity comes from being anti vax and anti medicine. And he forged documents to lie to Australian officials to try to sneak in the country.

@rodriguerra3639 10 ай бұрын

@@tylerdracing also no, he was already hated before that

@kpcvids 10 ай бұрын

@@daariashaheen6411 no, it's because he doesn't believe in COVID, among other things 💀

@monsieur1936 10 ай бұрын

Taylor Townsend is a really good player. She has 63% win rate in singles and 72% in doubles and she appeared in 2 grandslam doubles finals. Still if someone like her can't make enough out of the game, it's fair to assume that Tennis as a sport is RESERVED for the rich.

@masterminer5159 10 ай бұрын

shes made 4 mil and shes only 27

@Boollish 10 ай бұрын

@@masterminer5159 Sure, $4M is a lot of money to you or me. But if she made that money over 10 years, we can say that's $400k a year. Still a lot of prize money, sure. But a management company probably takes 5%. Then you pay a coach, costs $2500-$5000 a weekend, to travel to big tourneys. So that's another $50k gone. For a single coach. Many top players travel with a whole team and family. All travel has to be paid out of pocket. Many players have estimated that room and board, even flying coach and budget hotels, that this is another $50k a year. So she's down to $200k a year. But she hasn't paid taxes, or health care, or for training, or the general lifestyle to maintain a professional athletic level. All in, she's probably not taking home much more than an average kind-of smart 27-year-old. Meanwhile the TOs are taking in big bucks from luxury sponsors. A rank 150 player doesn't net enough money in a career to buy the Rolex that sponsors the serve speed clock.

@LebronCCP 10 ай бұрын

Agree. Also the best women basketball players in the world barely make over 6 figures. Something needs to change. Nba needs to share revenue.

@echochamber1234 10 ай бұрын

maybe moreso than other sports, but it's not like other pro sports are easily accessible to the middle class. it takes a lot of money and spare time to train a child from a young age to go pro at any sport. to get to "700th best player" in the NBA, there's a lot of investment from a young age we don't see. even worse for a capital intensive sport like F1 or golf.

@rangersking6699 10 ай бұрын

@@masterminer5159 she made 4 mil before taxes and before paying her coaches and travel expenses and whatever else. It’s not that simple

@radityarian1533 10 ай бұрын

On a side note though, this is why Djokovic and some other players decided to establish the PTPA, their main agenda is to address the inequality of the income for the rest of the players. And it’s cool to see a dozens of top players also joined this initiative, to collectively address the issue

@joelmonteiro1419 10 ай бұрын

I have no idea why the PTPA wasn't mentioned in the video. It's by far the biggest step taken in the right direction.

@jeremyneiderhoff 10 ай бұрын

@@joelmonteiro1419because the ATP and ITF paid for this video. All talk and no real solutions

@impresssed1213 10 ай бұрын

ATP and ITF are competitors lol, and on top of that no corporation is gonna pay to be bad mouthed like this. Instead, the reason it wasn't mentioned is because the PTPA didnt pay to be mentioned.@@jeremyneiderhoff

@Dakappon 10 ай бұрын

@@joelmonteiro1419 Because Djokovic did not take the vaccine, and Vox doesn’t want to promote someone who is against their agenda

@OedipusSimplex 10 ай бұрын

@@joelmonteiro1419 Ahmad Nassar is the Executive Director of the PTPA.

@alimfuzzy 10 ай бұрын

My uncle was a world champion rower. His crew beat the olympic champions of same year they won the world championship. He didnt make a cent, and lost money, rowing. He worked as a teacher just to get by. He quit rowing because he couldn't afford it any more. He's doing good now he's a principal making a good living.

@DrDjDD 10 ай бұрын

Rowing and many other sports just don't have TV audience and sponsors. When was the last time you saw rowing on TV?

@alimfuzzy 10 ай бұрын

@DrDjDD that's my point. Not all athletes, even the world's best, can make a living. Side note, actually ivy league schools pay rowing coaches a lot, much more than world champions. For some reason, they take it very seriously.

@ameykasar 10 ай бұрын

@@alimfuzzy I think what DrDjDD is saying is - "Tennis has a huge audience and huge revenue. Where does it all go if not to the players? Check the pockets of the tournament directors."

@alimfuzzy 10 ай бұрын

@@ameykasar unfortunately, FIFA can answer that.

@RandyMahnke 10 ай бұрын

@@DrDjDDIn Germany there's often rowing on TV, we are a big rowing nation

@lavaregion6968 10 ай бұрын

This is sad since Tennis is one of the most popular sports in the world. While the top players are extremely rich, the bottom ones are struggling to live.

@RealShaktimaan 10 ай бұрын

That's how it is in every sport. Including golf.

@parkercrossland410 10 ай бұрын

To play, not to watch/support, which is where money comes from

@lavaregion6968 10 ай бұрын

@@parkercrossland410 it’s also the 5th most watched in the world

@xuxon24 10 ай бұрын

People tend to watch the big 4 the other don't get the same popularity

@parkercrossland410 10 ай бұрын

@@lavaregion6968 Take away any country/region that isn't a 1st world market. The NFL/College Football destroy tennis in terms of revenue generated because they have a massive foothold in America. America and Western Europe. You need to have a strong hold in one or more of these markets to make bank. If you look at revenue generated, tennis would fall under 1 billion annually when you combine the varying parties (slams, atp, wta, the rest), meaning it falls 8th or 9th, 10th even if we include motorsports. People may watch it, but not the people that generate revenue.

@shiftt. 10 ай бұрын

I appreciate the fact that Novak through the PTPA (players association) is doing his best to push for better financial conditions for players. It's better for everyone.

@harisselmanovic1030 10 ай бұрын

When Djokovic founded the PTPA the idea was to provide collective bargaining power to tennis players. It’s funny how Nadal and Fed didn’t support him. Just tells you the level of privilege they possess and lack of care for those underprivileged. Their PR can say whatever they want but this was their chance to make a real historic difference in tennis and Fedal sided with the tournaments. Hopefully the PTPA continues to grow and the young players have more compassion and join the movement right away!

@bingo1646 10 ай бұрын

True

@The_Jazziest_Coffee 10 ай бұрын

you know i really am deeply opposed to djokovic for a ton of reasons, and definitely a lot of them are quite petty and relate to his incidents but i can't deny, the fact that he actually has made efforts to improve the personal power towards tennis players compared to the other two goats says a lot about himself, and that he truly cares

@syedshahrukhraza2923 10 ай бұрын

@@The_Jazziest_Coffee That's coz Djokovic grew up poor in war-torn Serbia whereas Fedal grew up rich and became even richer through tennis. It's just a fact of life that if you are in a privileged environment, your mindset will eventually start to compartmentalize the suffering of those less fortunate than you. I'm a Federer fan btw.

@vonbraun8051 10 ай бұрын

I have a friend who was a linesman on the ATP tour (back when they used humans to call lines). He got to know a lot of the players and observed a lot of what the players were like. He told me that without a doubt the nicest guy was Djokovic. Djokovic was kind to everyone--ball kids, volunteers, janitors, cops, everyone--and not just when press was around (like a lot of other players were). Yes, he said Federer was nice guy too, but Djokovic really impressed him most that way.

@Vynetic 10 ай бұрын

Is Federer and Nadal not supporting this association real? What is the association for and is it still working?

@scpatl4now 10 ай бұрын

I would love to know what the directors of these tennis organizations make.

@steffen_drei 10 ай бұрын

Chief executive (Wimbledon) Michael Downey received £654,000 last year

@romanmir01 10 ай бұрын

if they are smart they should be making multiples of what players make

@midknight 10 ай бұрын

@@steffen_drei that’s a lot for a single tournament

@lavaregion6968 10 ай бұрын

@@midknight well the winner of Wimbledon got $3 million dollars so what do you say to that. In tennis, you make the big bucks if you do well

@SF3284 10 ай бұрын

@@lavaregion6968LMFAO did you watch the video? 5:00

@TheCivilizedSavage5326 10 ай бұрын

They are forgetting the fact that those other sports (NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB) have a Collective Bargaining Agreement...which is why they get nearly 50% off revenues and have top tier minimum salaries.

@scorpioninpink 10 ай бұрын

That's why Djokovic and other players created the PTPA but it is being demonized because he started it and top players like Nadal and Federer didn't support it.

@Alex-ii9sp 10 ай бұрын

Right, the players associations' are unions, organized labor. That is what the PTPA is trying to be. It is only in its infancy now but if enough public support is given and enough players come on board, you could see a future where the major tennis orgs are forced to come to the negotiating table with a group of unionized tennis players.

@johnmclachlan3602 10 ай бұрын

Strike!

@backto-il9ne 10 ай бұрын

Theya are not "forgetting" that fact. They are aware of it and that is why they are championing to have a similar collective bargaining agreement in tennis.

@juiceman_3 10 ай бұрын

The big difference is sports that have competitions/tournaments as a main source of revenue rather than a league can’t operate the same when it comes to revenue

@brandontaylor7129 10 ай бұрын

This is exactly why I had to stop. I turned pro briefly after college but I was only able to secure short term sponsorships..not enough security. That's why turning pro in tennis is really about luck. Sometimes the best players slip through the cracks because they don't have the financial resources.

@michaelgrimm8078 10 ай бұрын

It is not just pro tennis, any sport same. NFL has more salary, but in the same time there is a lot more competition. You did good and right choice.

@rosePetrichor 10 ай бұрын

Another aspect that is unique is that you have no idea when you will be travelling; if you get knocked out in the first round of a tournament or get to the semi-final means a difference of a whole week. many players have appearances at smaller challenger tournaments lined up for the second week of grand slams, *just in case* they get knocked out early and need to make some extra money. It's such a stressful way to live.

@clintonsmith9189 10 ай бұрын

This video really needed to talk about why the 18% of player profit share number isn't higher and what can be done.

@Maltamilkbone 10 ай бұрын

The 18% figure appears worse than it actually is considering the total revenues in tennis are sub-three billion. A larger share of tennis’s revenues are going towards fixed costs as opposed to other sports leagues that can dedicate a higher percentage of total revenue to variable costs (player earnings/salaries).

@TheMe9595 10 ай бұрын

I feel like this won’t change unless we see players forming a union and striking some tournaments. I’m also curious to know if golf has the same issue or if they have a different system.

@HKim0072 10 ай бұрын

Numbers are always opaque. Sounds like PGA was lower before. PGA is touting 55% goes to the players now, but there is always murky counting rules.

@kkt391 10 ай бұрын

There is PTPA but voices in Tennis is too scattered.

@lobstertantrum9511 10 ай бұрын

Unless the players themselves formed a tennis club and combined their earnings

@2531Prasad 10 ай бұрын

If the game is Player A vs Player B then all you technically need is a referee and a playground . You can livestream your game and keep all the generated income and pay the referee . Create your own league literally in your backyard Really the question should be how much value is it generating , if I make a new sport and Cost to organize that sport is 25 mil a day. If I have 0 audience that's 25 mil down per day. On the contrary Bellaporch became worth 10 mil in last 2 years with 0$/day organisation cost. It's all about how many eyeballs you can capture, if we treat sport as fun activity and consider sports income as a reward that will make more sense . You'll form a union and strike against what ? People not buying your merchandise ?

@CrescentCitySweaters 10 ай бұрын

Golf is currently in a state of flux with the possible PGA/LIV Golf merger that for antitrust reasons might not be a merger. They’re kinda still working that out on the fly

@now2307 10 ай бұрын

I can’t believe this is not addressed all these years. Even being a 100th player among thousands of good players is a big deal. It takes a lot of practice, dedication, struggle. Hope they compensate these players one way or the other.

@rebekah.fisher4 10 ай бұрын

I think the topic should be 'why most athletes in indiviudal sports stuggle to make a living’. It would yield the same conculsion as to tennis. If anything tennis might be the most 'well off' out of any of the other sports.

@rangersking6699 10 ай бұрын

Tennis definitely is not the most well off for the athletes lol

@janzy1980 10 ай бұрын

Yeah the comparisons with teams sports that arguably generate a lot more revenue than tennis aren't the best ones. I would have liked to see a comparison with combat sports like boxing and UFC included. These guys have it the worst...

@alternativethoughts13 10 ай бұрын

I would like to know about that too. How difficult it is in individual sports. I’m pretty sure Badminton, Squash and other racquet sports have the same issue.

@parkercrossland410 10 ай бұрын

Lack of merchandizing, lack of "immortality" (teams exist after players retire), too globalized to legitimately capture the casual Western audience. If America created their own national tennis circuit back in the 80's/90's and got a decent chunk of the top players to stay, the money would have come.

@redda2 10 ай бұрын

Yup it's all individual sports with this issue, not just Tennis

@tds7078 10 ай бұрын

Love that VOX made a video on this topic. The ATP/WTA has so many interesting obstacles in the way of athletes. As a former player, investigating corruption within the sport at the professional level interested me while in undergrad so I wrote a paper on the topic.

@bachvutuyetvoi3789 9 ай бұрын

can u share your paper, I'm so curious and would love to learn more. Thank you!

@Thrilla4romManila 21 күн бұрын

Please publish your paper

@matt9904 10 ай бұрын

The most basic tactic by management against workers is divide and conquer. That is why they always oppose unions. So in a sport without teams the job of breaking worker solidarity is already done.

@ptpaplayers 10 ай бұрын

A core part of our mission. Thank you for helping shed light on this.

@Maltamilkbone 10 ай бұрын

The broader tennis community is in alignment with the aspirations of the PTPA. While the push for unionization is admirable, will the PTPA look to get involved with brokering future TV deals? It is ridiculously difficult for most American tennis fans to watch matches outside of the grand slams because they are only broadcast on Tennis Channel, which is not included in most standard cable packages.

@gorankuk 10 ай бұрын

They should mention PTPA, that is a trying to address this same problem. Also how Djokovic who was trying to help met so much resistance from players with privilege like Nadal, Murray and Federer who did not want to support this movement. Press was as well not very kind and they all tried to show how PTPA is going to break tennis. They turn back on players who were struggling to survive on the tour instead of helping them.

@blessmeaachoo8348 10 ай бұрын

The video is kinda promoting ptpa since all the graphs and research shown in the vid were conducted by ptpa and the non-tennis player who was speaking is a part of ptpa + ig the players that are talking also openly support ptpa. Sometimes they don’t need to say things like this out,cuz if ptpa is openly mentioned in this vid it basically would show the tennis organisations in a bad way which they would not like. Ptpa must’ve collaborated with vox to make this vid therefore are mentioned in the video. Silent marketing

@Fernball21 10 ай бұрын

The man Ahmad Nassar was subtitled as the president of the PTPA

@ets160 10 ай бұрын

This is literally a PTPA supported video

@userabn214 10 ай бұрын

Herbert Hurcaz is really nice person.

@brandon_den 10 ай бұрын

NGL he talks a little strange

@epointerwinboie 10 ай бұрын

@@brandon_denEnglish is not his first language

@TheebX92 10 ай бұрын

I heard he burned an orphanage

@StewNWT 10 ай бұрын

@@brandon_denhe’s polish

@brandon_den 10 ай бұрын

@@epointerwinboie not the language but the way he slurs his words. But hey I like hin

@olggg9740 10 ай бұрын

Great to see Hubi speaking out about the issue!

@dusko2494 10 ай бұрын

Novak Djokovic is the only big name to shine light on this topic also be is the founder of the PTPA players association. Nadal and fed have always been silent on the topic.

@move3spaces246 10 ай бұрын

Fedal are truely an embarrassment to Tennis! They 100% should be involved! But…they just don’t care!

@alexxanbr1038 10 ай бұрын

Not only silenced!!! They went openly against his decision and calling his action as disruptive of 'tennis unity'. They consent with all heavy criticism that was going all toward Djokovic. And protected the interest of the organizer of events:/. They simply don't care about lower ranked outside of their bubble.

@seph9980 10 ай бұрын

As a tennis fan, this always lived in the back of my head. It turns out, these players are living this difficult reality. This is perplexing as a fan.

@Colonel_MaelRadec 10 ай бұрын

I didn't know this was happening at all. I love tennis, I was a tennis player, and I always wanted to dedicate myself to it at a professional level but to see how the system works saddens me enormously. The amounts of money are very low compared to other sports.

@W4TSKY 10 ай бұрын

I saw so many ad posts from WTA players for the hotels they were staying at during the US Open. Even from Rybakina. Think about that. The #4 tennis player in the world has to reach out to hotels for sponsorship deals just to be able to afford to stay long enough to compete in a grand slam. That’s sickening.

@akbarberlian 10 ай бұрын

wow man..

@radityarian1533 10 ай бұрын

I don’t think that’s the case for the top players, could be the other way around considering the big name they already established. I mean the hotel would be benefited a lot by being endorsed by the top players right?

@deusexmachina9776 10 ай бұрын

last time I checked top players stay in hotels for free, they are just promoting. itf players pay for their own hotels

@4end 10 ай бұрын

top players stay in hotels for free, the hotels do it for promotion

@dlcrme 10 ай бұрын

Coco Gauff just won the US Open and promoted her hotel on ig

@EighthRobin 10 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for showing just how hard it is to do well in professional tennis. There is a bg iceberg of what the public sees (slams and big tournaments), and the lower ranked challenger and itf tournaments where it is so hard to break through.

@nuke___8876 10 ай бұрын

Tennis players aren't going to change the structure of who the leagues/tournaments are set up at the moment. What they could do is try to form some sort of union and then refuse to participate in any league/tournament that doesn't meet their minimum demands. Paid travel and lodging, and a player-negotiated pay-out system seem like good starting points.

@ohgin12345 10 ай бұрын

Or they can fix matches. That's the only way they can make a living

@scorpioninpink 10 ай бұрын

They already did. Djokovic started the PTPA exactly to address the inequality in Tennis but ATP and Tennis Media demonized him. Why do you think he was unjustly disqualified at the US Open in 2020 by accidentally hitting a line woman? Or how he was deported from Australia and Ban from the US Open in 2022? It was all because of PTPA.

@nymike06 10 ай бұрын

That's not going to happen.

@MonicaHolly143 10 ай бұрын

@@scorpioninpinkno,it was becuz he refuse to get vax simple as that

@slobodankarapandzic3018 10 ай бұрын

Novak and Vasek Pospisil started PTPA to fight for lower rankings player But major opsticles for them was Roger and Rafa , because they ignored him and talk that is not moment to divide and make cracks in perfect tennis organization

@Silver0426 10 ай бұрын

Nadal And Roger are very selfish players. 😢Is all just about them!😢Roger dream was not to help players like Djokovic, his dream was to become a billionaire 😢😢😢

@stefanvasilache5252 10 ай бұрын

@@Silver0426he is billionaire from sponsors and business not from tournament prize money. 😊

@capor23 8 ай бұрын

@@Silver0426 and what is wrong with having that dream ?

@serbianluqualizerskiingbio5821 10 ай бұрын

The GOAT Novak Djokovic founded the PTPA precisely because of this. ИДЕМО НОЛЕ!!!

@lynnturman8157 10 ай бұрын

Tennis is pricing itself out of existence, not only for the players but also the fans. Just to sit in the stadium at a grand slam costs a fortune but even just watching it on TV is expensive. You have to have cable or satellite to get ESPN or the Tennis Chanel. The old cliche that tennis is a rich person's sport seems to be true.

@RockinFootball_23 10 ай бұрын

Is it though? For the finals and the main stadium I get it. But for a day pass at a grand slam during the first week is quite affordable. I went to the AO this year and my ticket cost me $60 AUD which lasts me all day and night. That’s some good value as I could watch top 20 players too, not just lower ranked players. I get it for the sports subscription services but it’s the same for like every other sport. Other than the main popular sports in the country (AFL for me), everything else is a mess on streaming services. So unless you follow the most popular sport in the country, it is always gonna cost a bit more to follow.

@jukukwakuattionu5080 10 ай бұрын

Dustin’s story is true m’y one of the saddest, such an amazing player. Fast and accurate ground strokes. An amazing serve placement and speed on both the 1st and 2nd. So good and a serve and volleyer. It’s so sad 😭😭😭😭

@piscesgroovesupreme 9 ай бұрын

He would've been an absolute legend if he'd had the financial and medical support he needed throughout his career. It really is heartbreaking.

@FNFNFN99KKK 10 ай бұрын

A sad reality and tennis is a class sport.

@knav5216 10 ай бұрын

No. It isn't sad. That's how it's supposed to be. Same with other sports, the players should be paid less. Sports = past time. It isn't a job. They're even called "players". If they want to earn top dollar, they need to stop playing with their lives and work a real job or have a business.

@corneilusdonaldson1858 10 ай бұрын

@knav5216 Wow, having such a narrow aspect of life is just as sad. How one makes money should be as be as vast as their imagination. With some players making well more than they deserve, there's no reason why ANY professional athletes should be struggling to make ends meet, period.

@walterwhite3417 10 ай бұрын

@@knav5216so who should bag all the tv and ticket revenue? Executives?

@knav5216 10 ай бұрын

@@walterwhite3417 you got it. They're the ones that do the hard work to keep the sport relevant and efficient. Since players will be paid less, ticket prices, merch, should go down. It's a win-win. Even if players are paid less, there will still be people who will play. This time for the right reasons, just for fun. Not for money.

@knav5216 10 ай бұрын

@@corneilusdonaldson1858 there's nothing professional about sports. 😆 Did they take the bar/board exam? Sports is just for past time. For people who are lazy. Similar to prostitutes, these players just want easy money. 😆

@bulelanibotman 10 ай бұрын

my god, i actually never thought this was even a case for players in tennis. this needs to be discussed more with the global governing body of tennis because in reality they should be earning more money since its just two people playing each other

@mridulsahu687 10 ай бұрын

This is very important issue that you have brought out to everyone. Thanks for this detailed video! Tennis must support its players to grow

@msmilesftw 10 ай бұрын

This is blowing my mind-thank you Vox for breaking this down-now I’m down the tennis player equity rabbit hole 🕳️

@Birdbrain300 9 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing. As a retired athlete, I can second that the expectations and pressure put on us are inhumane. Especially with younger athletes right now, they are not only enduring financial issues- it's environmental. There's more risks now because we are playing in extreme conditions be it hot, cold, toxic environments like bad teammates and so on. The sports community as a whole doesn't talk about this enough. Good video. 👍🏻

@Zveebo 10 ай бұрын

Some players do have quite a bit of backing from their local tennis federation. For example, many UK players in the bottom reaches of the top flight rely pretty extensively on what is basically a salary provided to them by the LTA to support them. That’s funded by profits from Wimbledon - the private members club that runs Wimbledon donates 50% of their profits to support British Tennis. Some other countries have similar arrangements.

@_o..o_1871 10 ай бұрын

The Romanian tennis federation is not funded so well even tho it is one of our most successful national sport organizations. Most of the tennis federations cannot help the players too much. Those in Canada and the UK are the exception to the rule!

@gemmeldrakes2758 10 ай бұрын

Sports Associations in smaller, less wealthy countries don't have the resources to subsidize their players like this. Which is why sports like tennis are dominated by a few countries. If you can't buy a plane ticket to get to the tournament, being a talented athlete becomes a moot point.

@michaeladkins6 10 ай бұрын

@@gemmeldrakes2758 Thats why a lot of Junior players have shopped around countries for a good opportunity.

@sabarinathan6554 2 ай бұрын

Except south asia. It seems every country supports their players.

@sabarinathan6554 2 ай бұрын

@@michaeladkins6 i don't get it

@brian_meaney 10 ай бұрын

Dustin Brown is not an "American" tennis player. He is German-Jamaican and has only ever represented those countries professionally.

@nathangillingham5734 10 ай бұрын

Whatever he is, he's a legend

@Anticommunism99 28 күн бұрын

😂

@larrybranchii 10 ай бұрын

I love Taylor Townsend! She’s so well spoken, and is a top 10 player in the world in doubles.. and has beaten top 10 players like Simona Halep at the US Open.. couldn’t imagine a solid player like her not getting paid as well as we thought.

@Martin-ls9bz 10 ай бұрын

4 million in prize money alone, I think she's doing alright

@ohgin12345 10 ай бұрын

And doubles is never a sport that requires much skills anyway. Look at a doubles match and you can tell. Those matches are played by tennis retirees and former singles players who are not very skillful

@xuxon24 10 ай бұрын

@@ohgin12345well I wouldn't call it like that exactly but it's not the most popular part of the sport. They play their final and matches really early so they don't make the buzz like the women and men individual tournaments do.

@StewNWT 10 ай бұрын

@@Martin-ls9bzshe’s had well over $1 million in expenses. She’s advocating for those who haven’t been as fortunate as her

@ohgin12345 10 ай бұрын

@@xuxon24 just saying what it is instead of being a numskull like you and being politically correct all the time. Just watch a doubles tennis us open match and was totally unamazed at how cr@p a supposedly world no 1 doubles player is in terms of skill level. An amateur player can surpass him at any time. Austin kracijek if I can recall his name. Only reason why he can actually do well is because this tournament is either filled with ppl in their 40s or players that just play this discipline for fun when their focus is on the singles anyway. But it's ok. Continue being a loser in life

@sandster 10 ай бұрын

Thank you Vox for bringing attention to this.

@wiscadams 10 ай бұрын

Lots of noise about earning less and different employment structures than team sports but that's not really a good comparison. Golf would be the best analogue. Strange to talk about how much money is earned from a sport without digging into where that money comes from and how tennis stacks up to other sports.

@VARMOT123 10 ай бұрын

Golf is a really upper class sport that their sponsors cater to really rich with high spending power. Tennis is a upper class sport but not that privileged

@jairomejia616 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for giving awareness to this huge problem. It is not fair!

@catlikearcher9955 10 ай бұрын

This is a struggle shared by the vast majority of athletes. Sports like football, F1, and basketball are the outliers.

@BeginnerHoops 10 ай бұрын

F1 should not be included here since you need millions in funding or connections to the best sponsors to qualify for formula 4, formula 3, F2 before having a chance of reaching F1.

@AndreaAirlines 10 ай бұрын

You need a LOT of money to even get near F1

@plumpelstiltskin 10 ай бұрын

Yeah, but those other sports you're talking about don't generate huge sums of money for the non-players. The difference here (which they talk about in the beginning) is that tennis is generating ridiculous quantities of money, but only passing 18% of it back to the players. That's the unfair part.

@VARMOT123 10 ай бұрын

F1 has 20 people and lot of them are sons of centi millionaires and billionaires .how is that comparable . Cricket and baseball are better examples

@jeshkam 10 ай бұрын

@@axsmpl8767 Lol, it's a tough physical sport.

@ricardiocka 10 ай бұрын

i woder how tennis compares to other individual type sports like golf, ice skating, gymnastics, surfing, skateboarding, and others. It's hard to compare to team sports like nfl that at this point are more entertainment empires than sports organizations.

@Oh_that_mle 10 ай бұрын

This video needs to be shown everywhere! It’s outrageous how much tournaments generate in revenue and how little is actually compensated to players. I think of players who are top tier and get injured and miss months of playing - they aren’t paid. It’s awful.

@bydariopoggi 10 ай бұрын

Such a great, informative and entertaining video. Nice work, Vox!

@user-lf2nt6sc8f 10 ай бұрын

what a tragic story of women & men who sacrificed for people but are financially challenged. thank you for this docu. kudos!

@esborg 10 ай бұрын

As a life long tennis player, avid tennis lover, this is heartbreaking to watch. The ATP and WTA need to do better.

@jkjkjk100 10 ай бұрын

I was pretty good junior in my country. I turned pro when i was 15 playing futures. Luckily i decided to call it quit, used my skill to get free ride to college and now have a quite successful career. Nothing fancy like roger or nadal but definitely better than if I continued playing.

@extreame7304 9 ай бұрын

Now do the same with Track and Field I feel like sports that don't have consistant gambling oppurtunity is devalued

@gatorf2 10 ай бұрын

Huge missed opportunity not talking about Novak Djokovic’s PTPA and the efforts to fix the problems outlined in this video. Hope to see a part 2 on this topic talking about the PTPA!

@vlogtheory4016 10 ай бұрын

Im sure you guys dont want to hear about the UFC and Dana White, its prob 10x worse than this and those guys get beat up for a living.

@potatoscrub716 10 ай бұрын

It’s also the same for boxing with boxers on a headliner undercard. Dana also prevents endorsements with the new rebook deal. Tennis players have it a lot better than combat sports athletes

@midknight 10 ай бұрын

Absolutely brilliant report. Thank you for this

@cyriljohns 9 ай бұрын

Kudos to Vox for bringing this out!

@btimec5290 10 ай бұрын

Wow I had no idea. Well done Vox. The graphics were helpful and excellent- you need to give a raise to Joey and Steph!

@Danielevans2 10 ай бұрын

Part of the issue is that viewership for the sport is only for the top 10 players and because a match only requires 2-4 people there's less payout. A union would help along broadcasting smaller events throughout the year to give more opportunities too get revenue from playing

@Kevinschart 10 ай бұрын

The issue is that the competitive format is disjointed. All the major sports have leagues that combine resources. It sounds like that doesn't exist for tennis. They can unionize all they want but until they find a way to consolidate the fans and market league play over tournament play there isn't much money to divide. This is not something the players can resolve

@Grapevin 10 ай бұрын

Would be curious to see comparisons to other traditionally solo sports like golf. A lot of the issues highlighted seem like an inherent problem with that sort of sport (as most of your numbers were compared to team sports, where a team has to pay a competitive salary to keep players from leaving).

@ChandraNYC 10 ай бұрын

Gymnastics is a team sport. Even those competing in the All-Around or on the Individual Apparatuses are members of the team.

@ISpitHotFiyaa 10 ай бұрын

Exactly. Compare it to golf and boxing. I doubt the number 300 boxer in the world is making much money either. Nobody's getting pay-per-view to see him fight.

@rajanmithrau6019 10 ай бұрын

Such a well made video! Great job team Vox.

@VARMOT123 10 ай бұрын

Tennis is mostly an upper class american and european sport . Far from being global .number of tennis courts per country in most countries is very very low to make it global .it needs to work on that firstly

@nitsuj6801 10 ай бұрын

My coach was a top 200 player and he told me he stopped purely because he couldn't afford to play anymore

@mitsuhh 10 ай бұрын

What's your rank?

@nitsuj6801 10 ай бұрын

Lol I don't play professionally let alone take lessons anymore.@@mitsuhh

@Lommy9999 10 ай бұрын

Equal pay is important, but the next step should be MORE PAY IN GENERAL. I wonder how players managed to play 50-60 years ago when even the top winners made pennies.

@BeginnerHoops 10 ай бұрын

Most athletes back then worked side jobs.

@Simon.Freund 10 ай бұрын

Really glad to see Vox bringing this to light!

@kaym7704 2 ай бұрын

So unfortunate they get paid so little. Tennis is one of my favorite sports. I wish there was a way to support them.

@TannerTownsend 10 ай бұрын

It’s not fair to compare it to the major team sports. Comparing it to professional golf, another singles sport is more accurate, and the two have very similar issues in regards to pay.

@Tjd1982 9 ай бұрын

Look up the CFL, where some players have another job in the offseason. The salary cap is $5.45 million divided by 56 players. The highest paid player is Toronto's QB at $1.68 million over 3 years.

@stackhat8624 9 ай бұрын

I'd like to make $560,000 a year.

@robinhoodieradio3394 10 ай бұрын

I appreciate bringing this issue to light. Why was Golf not mentioned in a big way in this video? Golf and Tennis are not team sports. Would have liked to hear more on that aspect.

@Bimbimbambam282 10 ай бұрын

editor and graphics designers of this video - are just at the top level

@savagepro9060 10 ай бұрын

Vox: Why most tennis players struggle to make a living Pro Triathletes: 🤭😂😅😆🤣

@justinn8410 10 ай бұрын

One actually makes revenue.

@edleung4046 10 ай бұрын

I think anyone that goes to ITF/challenger level tournaments knows it. You can see players wearing old clothing, partially worn shoes in matches. One time I went to an ITF tournament by train, and found one of the players had taken the same train as me to the tournament!

@bmanna495 10 ай бұрын

You can also see the vibes in the match are so much more tense than ATP because they really depend on that little prize money or point they get our of it

@gioberto855 10 ай бұрын

Yeah one year at Queens I finished watching this player and on the way back to the train station he and I say hello as he taps his card into Barons Court, mind you he was top 50 at this point

@ameya9372 10 ай бұрын

And this is the reason I love and support Djokovic he brought the issue to light after founding PTPA. I hope he gets the credit for it.

@jaquevius 2 ай бұрын

Elite world class professionals outside of the top 100-150 can usually net more income becoming teaching pros. We had a young pro in his 20’s at my club who was top 100 in doubles and top 300 in singles who couldn’t afford the travel and other expenses. It’s mind boggling. You’re the best 100 out of 7 Billion people and can’t afford to continue.

@darkmatter5424 10 ай бұрын

Why does Hubi speak with so much melancholy? I almost want to go up and hug him. He is relatively successful to be honest and I'm pretty sure he has more than decent earning. 😅

@pikachude5490 10 ай бұрын

Well he is sponsored by mclaren lol and gets to drive the latest mclarens to every tournament

@Loyola86 10 ай бұрын

I get what they’re saying, they should make more money. But the problem is in accepting the structure that limits the possibility of making points within the same country or continent. It should be easier and cheaper to hold those low levels tournaments points.

@AndreaBioko 10 ай бұрын

Great video! As soon as ATP & WTA tours come together the tennis industry will rise up economically !

@darrylgrigg3264 9 ай бұрын

This video is very informative. I was aware of the financial struggles for players below the World Tour level but this video makes it clear there are problems for WT players in the middle to lower ranks. I am happy to see Novak and his player`s group raising issues which need to be raised.

@Rubbabandman 10 ай бұрын

Wearing YSL talking about how people in her career field don’t get paid enough😂😂

@nilsragnar1347 10 ай бұрын

5:20 ??? Isn't it really simple, it's a solo sport? If you're top 100 in basketball you're probably in a major team and playing in big games. If you're top 100 in tennis odds are no one knows who you are.

@donli5457 10 ай бұрын

Another thing that's worth mentioning is how the nationality of a player could significantly impact their chances of playing big tournaments and getting a better check. Let's say if you're from one of the 4 grand slam countries (Australia, France, UK, US) you have a much higher chance to receive a wild card to play the tournament or the qualifying rounds. Other than the Wimbledon, the other three grand slams will also exchange wild cards for their players to enter another grand slam. For example, if you're a promising but low ranking tennis player from the US, you have a chance of playing high prize tournaments like the US Open, Indian Wells, Miami, and Cincinnati. But someone from Romania or Indonesia with equivalent skills will never share these resources. They may receive wild cards for their low-tier home tournaments but the prizes will never compare to the grand slams. In fact, winning a WTA250 title pays you less than getting two bagels at the first round of grand slams.

@tompike7239 10 ай бұрын

I never realised this as a fan. People need to know this and it needs to change.

@aliop5762 10 ай бұрын

Tennis isn't unique in its challenges, many other sports face similar or even tougher issues. For example, if you look at swimming, track, or cycling, the disparities become clear. In the Tour de France, the bottom 50% earn only $200 in prizes.

@aliop5762 10 ай бұрын

The issue is that your are comparing only with American sports and American prize money standards. However the main point still stands

@jugurthasyphax6341 10 ай бұрын

Yes but tennis players have this reputation of living La Dolce Vita (traveling the world, staying in 4-star hotels, earning big prizes...), unlike the other sports you mentioned.

@daveblack6951 10 ай бұрын

This is terrible for the sport! How many great players has the world missed out on!

@bluetrip_ 10 ай бұрын

Really happy a significant organization covered this. It's ridiculous.

@hanve 10 ай бұрын

Thanks vox for making such content to enlighten us. Man i really thought that tennis player always make handsome money but reality is grim😢

@logancollins6299 10 ай бұрын

Their definition of ‘struggling’ is far different than my definition

@jdalbion 10 ай бұрын

That is the case in every sport that is not a team sport... F1 for example is probably the most expensive one to succeed. You have to buy a car, mechanics, travel around the world, and so on. If your family isn't wealthy, or if you aren't an ex-racer son, chances that you will reach the top level are almost non existing.

@durgaprasadsamantula699 10 ай бұрын

Good thing that they are talking about this pubilcly!

@LurkerPatrol5 10 ай бұрын

As a huge fan of tennis growing up, I realize only now why my friends and coaches were all saying not to go into professional tennis.

@flundyyy 10 ай бұрын

This is directly comparable to minor leagues with MLB and alternative leagues like arena football. They are good but not good enough to warrant exceptional pay. Often they have to take on other jobs to pursue their passion. This is capitalism.

@Porthos240 10 ай бұрын

I just recently learned about this. Didn't know it went this deep! Thanks vox.

@drandrewtan 10 ай бұрын

Great video, Vox!

@SHINOBIMMA 10 ай бұрын

The parallels between tennis and mixed martial arts 😯. Very similar situation

@wilstewart5743 10 ай бұрын

Interesting video. In the case of other sports like association football (soccer), there are movements such as the European super league introduced by Anas Laghrari and John Hahn to cap player earnings at a certain percentage of club revenue, thus decreasing the amount players can make playing the game. Salary caps are a form of slavery. Should the executives who run the sport have better security than the players? Absolutely not. We pay to see the stars not Anas Laghrari or whatever his equivalent is in tennis.

@edgardosace484 10 ай бұрын

most athletes (including tennis) who rely on individual effort and talent to earn a living have chosen a difficult path. being this kind of an athlete takes a lot of discipline and motivation to be successful. which most do not have, hence the failure to accomplish the goals he sets to achieve,. unlike athletes who are in a team and are paid guaranteed salaries, they thrive even in a supporting role..

@The_Jazziest_Coffee 10 ай бұрын

discipline and motivation are key factors, but in reality it also comes down to financial backing too you won't always win, especially early on when playing in high level competitions, so you need a financial blanket to keep you from falling back

@rph8704 10 ай бұрын

These individual sports don’t have leagues so there’s little structure and hence very lopsided payouts. Boxing, golf, swimming, etc all have this same issue.

@eljanrimsa5843 9 ай бұрын

@@rph8704 I remember back in Boris Becker's days there was a Tennis-Bundesliga in Germany and second-tier players usually derived some form of small but stable income from playing there and representing their club.

@OneAdam12Adam 10 ай бұрын

Thank you for spelling out the inequities in the sports world.

@stevyyjay85 10 ай бұрын

Not to mention that some players take or demand money before they agree to play a smaller tournament. I remember that Nadal requested something like $100,000 - 500k before agreeing to play a ATP500 tournament. Some tournaments can afford that, others cannot. Also, the prize noney we have today has increased so much in comparison to 30-40 years ago. I remember seeing Steffi Graf winning a GS tournament and the prize money was under $100k in the mid 1980s. And expenses were also pretty high even back then, flying to these events, staying in hotel, paying for your coaches etc. Nowadays, a GS win generated $2 million. Graf's prize money earnings: 1986 - 8 titles - #3 - $612k (0 GS) 1987 - 11 titles - #1 - $1,1m (1 GS) 1988 - 11 titles - #1 - $1,4m (4 GS) 1989 - 14 titles - #1 - $1,6m (3 GS) 1990 - 10 titles - #1 - $1,9m (1 GS) 1991 - 7 titles - #2 - $1,5m (1 GS) 1992 - 8 titles - #2 - $1,7m (1 GS) 1993 - 10 titles - #1 - $2,8m (3 GS) 1994 - 7 titles - #1 - $1,5m (1 GS) 1995 - 9 titles - #1 - $2,5m (3 GS) 1996 - 7 titles - #1 - $2,7m (3 GS) 1997 - 1 title - #28 - $230k (0 GS) 1998 - 3 tiles - #9 - $600k (0 GS) 1999 - 1 title - #3 - $1,2m (1 GS)

@EveloGrave 10 ай бұрын

"Why most tennis players struggle to make a living" I work a job that isn't entertainment and I struggle to make a living.

@pvnh1704 10 ай бұрын

How did you make this about yourself lol

@Skybar23 10 ай бұрын

Revenue share in other sports simply comes down to having one global overarching governing body that oversees everything including salaries and how players can earn thier income including lower ranked players

@rph8704 10 ай бұрын

Yep. All these individual sports don’t have a league so earnings are wildly variable