Pocket, prominence and performance
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This is the 21st century Tennis. It’s a world where prominence can fill the pockets of players as much as their performance. In a revelation which I must say are rare, players earnings came into light. It revealed that in women’s Tennis the big earners are going home not necessarily from performance only. Their earnings can top around twenty one million dollars and the lower end is five annually. It could be that the bigger portion of this is spin-offs of their prominence.
Maria Sharapova with five major titles and now in suspension till April has averaged the best in earnings in the last four years. Serena Williams with twenty three majors is second. Caroline Wozniacki with no major titles is the third! The revelation came to light when questions were asked as to why the German Angelique Kerber, who held the number one position, is not going home with big bucks? Not prominent enough could be an answer.
Mark McCormack’s legacy
Sportspersons were not making that much of money in the sixties and seventies. McCormack was a professional golfer but he was able to judge his ability very well and knew he does not have the potential to surpass the ability of Arnold Palmer, who was the best golfer at his time but was not earning anything like what is made now.
McCormack was also a writer and a lawyer with a business mind. He offered to manage Palmer. It is a partnership that turned sports from being an amateur event to full fledge professional realm. In Tennis today there is no amateurism and it is very lucrative to be a top 200 Tennis player.
In the sixties when professionalism was not permitted in sports, the only money players earned was appearance money to cover the cost of travel and free accommodation. Everything else was done under the table and many were suspended for taking that money. As for sponsorship from branding, only sports equipments were there and there were no ‘known payments’ to players. The few who became professionals played on car parks and on side roads. I remember such an event in South Africa where just turned professionals played for -/25 dollar cents for a point. A leading Tennis magazine called the “World Tennis” reported it.
With professionalism permitted in Tennis from 1969 it was McCormack with his company called the IMG who made the difference. Players became advertising icons and that ‘prominence’ gave more money than performance to players. McCormack bought in the clothing lines, jewelers trade, cosmetics and watches and opened the flood gates and money is still pouring in.
McCormack’s success led him to write the bestselling book, “What they don’t teach you at the Harvard business school”. He made professionalism in Sport a respectable one. Anyway even in the amateur days sportsmen took money to survive and it was named ‘shamateurism’. McCormick turned this unacceptable word into ‘advertising endorsements’ and ‘contractual appearances’. McCormack was known as the most powerful man in sports at his time of death in 2003.
Maria Sharapova
ATP and WTA have been enhancing these aspects ever since their appearance in the scene money wise and in depth of players in the world rankings who made money. Very nearly all the big names in Tennis in the last four decades were managed by McCormack’s group. One of the aspects that got high-end treatment from this is ‘prominence’ and glamour enhanced it. Events became glamorous and very attractive. Argentinean Gabriela Sabatini one of the best exponents of the game was a glamour icon in sport and now has her own cosmetic line up. Many today would like to follow her.
The beautiful Dane – Wozniacki
The next thing that attracts the advertisers is the number of spectators, fans and aficionados of a sport. By a large margin Football is the winner here. Tennis attracts elites and glamour spectator ship and this is the factor women’s Tennis pays well. With modern social media in the WWW playing a major role in popularization of people, performance is not the only thing that is making sportspersons popular.
Sports persons with their trim physical shape often appear as glamour icons. Currently it is Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki is the leading ones from women’s Tennis. Some others are also pursuing this line. With internet and social media more popular than the media news their image value is skyrocketing. Both held the position of world’s number one in the past. Their images could be seen with range of products. Going by their popularity they are delivering what the products want. Both of these players are in the top twenty of the world and have the potential to win a major title even this year. Sharapova will be resuming playing the WTA events from April this year.
Media has made sportspersons popular and now they are working their way up in the ‘culture of prominence’. As long as it pays many more will take that road. Wozniacki is still a very good player and appears in the third and quarters in major events. She has come through a long and a hard road and deserves what she is reaping.
–George Paldano, Former intl. player; Accredited Coach of Germany; National, Davis-Cup, Federation Cup captain/coach– georgepaldano@yahoo.com