The ATP has agreed to allow betting or daily fantasy sponsorships of their tournaments for the first time since 2018, according to information obtained by The Sports Business Journal.
It is understood that sports betting and daily fantasy sponsorships will be available for both 250 and 500 events on the men’s Tour. However, for the Masters 1000 tournaments they will only be allowed to seek sponsorship from daily fantasy partnerships such as DraftKings or FanDuel. It is unclear as to why this rule has been applied to the Masters events.
The change of policy by the governing body of men’s tennis has been confirmed by Eddie Gonzalez, who is the tournament director of the Atlanta Open. There will be some exceptions to the new guidelines with tournaments not allowed to form title or presenting sponsorships with these companies at present.
“We’re very appreciative of the support from the board,” Gonzalez told SBJ. “This has happened under Andrea (Gaudenzi) coming in as our new chairman in a very difficult year, so we appreciate that. This is a great move for ATP Tour events to the able to secure revenue in a new category.”
Two years ago the ATP announced the ban of such sponsorships following a recommendation by the International Review Panel into match-fixing. An independent investigation found that there was a ‘tsunami’ of corruption in the sport, especially at lower level events. Although none of the governing bodies were found to be involved and were cleared of any wrongdoing. The investigation was triggered following a joint report from the BBC and Buzzfeed News in 2016 which claimed at least 16 top 50 players had been flagged by the Tennis integrity Unit over the past 10 years on suspicion of throwing matches.
The ATP now feels that enough progress has been made to reverse the ban. It comes as many tournaments seek to find a way to generate more money following what has been a difficult year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Heading into 2021 it has already been confirmed that Auckland, New York and Pune will not hold their annual events due to the current climate. Indian Wells is also in serious doubt.
Gonzalez has confirmed that he is already in discussions with various parties about forming a new deal concerning the Atlanta Open following the lift of the ban.
