Wimbledon may be canceled and the French Open postponed, but a competition launched by Grand Slam Tennis Tours and Topnotch Management will have live tennis broadcasted online from late May through early July. On the most recent episode of “SBJ Unpacks -- Weathering COVID-19,” our Bret McCormicktalks to Grand Slam Tennis Tours' Kyle Ross about the conception of the series, logistical challenges and the business experience Grand Slam Tennis Tours have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On how Grand Slam Tennis Tours MatchPlay 120 came together:
Ross: We were looking at the market and the climate, taking a lot of things into consideration, but it was a situation that was right for some exhibition tennis matches and exhibition tennis events to come up. It was a long path to figuring out which pieces of the puzzle were going to work for us. A lot of different exhibition event formats that are out there, people are adjusting scoring. People are doing single-day events, weekend events and events that were a little bit longer, but nobody had approached something with a six-week duration. After four or five weeks of pandemic-era spinning the wheels and figuring out how we could pivot and what we could do, we came up with a format and brought it to life.
On revenue flows without fans in attendance:
Ross: Revenue comes from the partnership with Genius Sports. We’re delivering match product to them, and they are allowed to then proceed and sell that data on their side. There’s a transaction happening there. That’s the core of the event funding. We’re also looking to supplement it with sponsorships. That’s how events work in all times, and so it’s no different here. There is no ticketing gate here. That’s usually a third pillar of event revenue, and there’s none of that. We’re looking at these two channels for event revenue, and then we’re distributing it. We have a significant amount of players to connect with in various locations. These players are of all different rankings, and every single one of them is now out of work.
On the impact of the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loan Grand Slam Tennis Tours received:
Ross: It has served us very well. None of us would be working on this project and a lot of tennis players wouldn’t be playing matches without that PPP loan. We all shut it down for a couple of weeks, and we were on unemployment. Things were a little weird and a little quiet. We were comforted by the fact that millions of other Americans were in the same situation. It was an odd time, and then when that PPP loan came in it allowed us to put the lights back on and charge ahead. We have a couple months runway now of a full team, and we’re all on full employment here. Let’s make the most of it and go from there.
SBJ/SBD· SBJ UNPACKS- Weathering COVID - 19 Podcast May 27 2020
