Craig Tiley, the CEO of Tennis Australia, believes that tapping further into the Asian market could help in gaining more profits for the upcoming tennis tournaments in Australia this January.
The Australian Open 2014 will have a record $33 million prize money, an increase of $3 million. The 2013 edition had an increase of $4 million which could be attributed to the net surplus drop of the organization from $3.1 million in 2012 to $1.6 million despite the $9 million increase in revenue to $181 million.
The ATP organization and the players have been clamoring for significant increases in prize money in all Grand Slam tournaments which was granted.
“You have to adjust your business to account for it, and the advantage we have this year and the next few years is that we are prepared for it,” Tiley said. “Historically we’ve been going up 2 per cent to 3 per cent annually but we think [prize money will] be going up 10 per cent year on year to get where we think we need to be.”
Tennis Australia already set up a commercial office in Asia. The organization has secured sponsorshop from previous benefactor Hisense, a Chinese goods manufacturer. Other Asian companies that will be sponsoring Australian Open include Korean automaker Kia and Taiwan-based tire company Maxxis.
“We have barely touched the surface on what we can achieve in Asia,” Tiley said. “We’re looking for commercial and revenue opportunities that exist in events acquisition, sponsorships and the leveraging of our existing partners, such as ANZ and Jacobs Creek, into the region.”
The Australian Open 2014 is aiming for another increase in ticket sales and so far the progress has been good.
Tiley revealed that the Sydney International, a tournament that takes place prior to the Australian Open, has been struggling with ticket sales lately and will need rejuvenation. He’s confident that Alistair MacDonald, the new chief executive of Tennis New South Wales, will be able to make this happen.
