One of Italy’s most prestigious newspapers has claimed that efforts are underway for the country’s tennis federation to buy the rights to a rival event in Spain.
La Stampa, a national newspaper published in Turin, has reported that the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation (FITP) has tabled an offer in the region of $550M to IMG, the current owners of the Madrid Open. Their aim is allegedly to acquire that week of the Tour calendar so they can expand the length of the Rome Masters to two full weeks, which are currently only awarded to Grand Slams. The FITP is said to have a ‘dream’ of hosting a fifth major which is very ambitious and unlikely.
Last October it was confirmed that Endeavor has started a review into the possible sale of certain events within its IMG profile, including the Madrid Open and Miami Open which are both combined events. At the time it was stated that ‘there is no assurance that the review will result in any specific action.’ As for the valuation of FITP’s proposed offer, it exceeds the reported base price of $500M for Madrid but that valuation was based on a source with no official information published.
Such a potential move will be highly controversial and will likely see big resistance from Spain with Madrid being the most high-profile tennis tournament in the country. Furthermore, if such a takeover occurs, there will be questions about whether a new Masters/WTA 1000 event will be created on the Tour and where.
Neither FITP, Endeavor or the Madrid Open are yet to comment on La Stampa’s report.
In a separate development, Riccardo Bisti for Tennis Magazine is reporting that plans are in motion to expand the Stadio dei Marmi which is one of the four complexes in the Foro Italico, venue of the Italian Open. It is claimed that three courts will be built which include one called ‘SuperTennis Arena’ with a capacity of 6500 seats and another two courts will have around 700 seats.
Similar to the La Stampa report, there is yet to be any official comment.
