Prize money increases for the ITF Circuit

the addict · Tennis legend

Prize money increases for the ITF Circuit

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

the addict wrote:
Perhaps the LTA should sacrifice a staff member or two, and use the money to subsidise these tournaments

Yes. Or buy a cheaper sofa.....

paulisi · Tennis legend

Why would any club look to pay to put on a tournament unless they have a big benefactor who will cover costs or have other ways of generating income. It's a no brainer....
There are few spectators and it's free normally although some charge for finals, the only other source of income would be through catering turnover.
I remember an interview from Cav in Egypt suggesting running costs were around 10-15k on top of prize money.

My understanding is that Women's 10ks are gone. Until the full schedule is out we will not be able to see if the increased prize money will reduce the number of tournaments. I suspect not - Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia will continue to run regular events and the bigger nations will continue to support.

EddietheEagle · County player

Optimist, I've attended many small tournaments abroad. The whole of the club largely gets behind them and everyone's involved, has a role, function etc, coaches above all. Ask CD. What happens here is a natural consequence of being spoonfed tennis for so long by an over-arching LTA/Wimbledon hegemony, that club members are no longer capable of thinking and acting for themselves, either individually or collectively. Sad really.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

EddietheEagle wrote:
Optimist, I've attended many small tournaments abroad. The whole of the club largely gets behind them and everyone's involved, has a role, function etc, coaches above all. Ask CD. What happens here is a natural consequence of being spoonfed tennis for so long by an over-arching LTA/Wimbledon hegemony, that club members are no longer capable of thinking and acting for themselves, either individually or collectively. Sad really.

Not sure how this relates to any of my posts! But yes, I have similar experiences of foreign tournaments and, junior or adult, they all seem to be real local 'events'. Nottingham always makes a big effort with it's festival of tennis - getting local school kids to be ball kids at the main event and having BT events and junior events linked in, along with the culmination of a local schools mini tennis competition. Glasgow also stands out with it's 10K, lots of local promotion, big stand, school kids brought in throughout the day to watch for a bit and then do a tennis related activity in one of the sports halls. Ilkley also puts all sorts of tennis events on around its 10K, a great club restaurant and a real buzz. Beyond these 3 though, UK tournaments are 'non-events'. It would be interesting to know if Glasgow and Ilkley make any money from their events because they really do put the effort in.

Edit: typos

-- Edited by The Optimist on Sunday 20th of November 2016 08:36:33 AM

Madadman · Top national player

I notice that the only tournament that starts in January that i can see a prize fund for is the last of the Hong Kong ones. The week before its a 10k and then it's a 15k. So scrapping of the 10 k appears to be going ahead. Looking back at January this year there were 26 Futures and currently there are 23 futures this coming January, not including the ones starting on 30/1/17. So not too much different.

wimdledont · Challenger level

Just to note that inflation since 1984, when the ITF established 10k tournaments, is over 300%. So in real terms, 1984 players were getting 3 times as much moolah in prize money. The increase to 15k prize money will still leave them competing for only half of the monies which were on offer to their 1984 equivalents. It will still be nigh-on impossible for any player to remain financially solvent while competing in entry-level tournaments.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Bob in Spain wrote:
Madadman wrote:
Anyone know if the 10k's are still disappearing as planned at the end of next month?
Will be interesting if this effects the amount of futures put on.
I haven't heard anything to the contrary. Looking at the ITF site for early next year, iit only lists venue and date so far and doesn't include the prize money allocated. As you said, an increase will make it all the more difficult for clubs to put on futures events. I was fortunate enough to talk to Leon about this recently and he said that one of the main reasons that there were so few futures in 2016 was that it was impossible to find clubs willing to host a tournament. They were offered a cost sharing arrangement but still only a few accepted. When clubs were asked to foot the bill, there wasn't a single club interested.
On the plus side for the players, the performance bonus scheme is being reintroduced, although the exact format and criteria are still to be determined.

https://www.lta.org.uk/globalassets/play/professional-development/documents/tournament-bonus-scheme-2017.pdf

Good to see that they are giving graduates from UK or US universities access to the bonus scheme at futures level for one year after graduation. Given that they have been playing tennis for 4 years largely under the radar of the pro circuit, if they're any good they should largely be through the lowest rung in that time scale so seems fair to me.

wolf · Tennis legend

I like it.

indiana · Tennis legend

Yes I do like the age extension and university exemption points highlighted - very sensible - maybe someone's been reading this forum . It seemed a ridiculously early cut-off before so this at least goes towards correcting an issue. Some may feel it is still too young a cut-off, but the university exemption year does deal with a particular issue.

One thing though, I thought that such an incentive bonus scheme as this had totally disappeared for a year or two. But this is written as indicating the 2017 continuation, indeed begins : "The TBS will continue to form a part of the LTA Support Programme in 2017 ..." confuse

-- Edited by indiana on Sunday 18th of December 2016 12:15:15 AM

Oakland2002 · All-time great

Sensible and equitable.

Potentially opens the door to players who because of lack of resource or serious academic commitment have a junior rank which doesn't reflect their full potential. Regardless of how you see College tennis as a stepping stone to the ATP or WTA it gives those who are walking the walk a real opportunity to walk right into main tour contention.

Excellent

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

indiana wrote:
Yes I do like the age extension and university exemption points highlighted - very sensible - maybe someone's been reading this forum . It seemed a ridiculously early cut-off before so this at least goes towards correcting an issue. Some may feel it is still too young a cut-off, but the university exemption year does deal with a particular issue.
One thing though, I thought that such an incentive bonus scheme as this had totally disappeared for a year or two. But this is written as indicating the 2017 continuation, indeed begins : "The TBS will continue to form a part of the LTA Support Programme in 2017 ..."

-- Edited by indiana on Sunday 18th of December 2016 12:15:15 AM

https://www.lta.org.uk/play/professional-player-development/tournament-bonus-scheme/

I don't think it ever stopped completely, it was just restructured with far less cash available and age / ranking restrictions which meant none of the players who had been benefitting from it were able to access it. The link shows the 2016 scheme.

Edit: making clear which year the link refers to

-- Edited by The Optimist on Sunday 18th of December 2016 10:25:55 AM

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

I remember it like Indy (although we might both be wrong, of course)

But I was pretty sure that the bonus scheme was scrapped completely one year (3 or 4 years back?).

And then they brought it back, but with the penal age limits (only applied to under 10 s or some such nonsense cry )

So I'd assumed when they say 'continue to form a part...' they mean 'continue from last year' or 'continue overall, in general....'.

Overall, I think it's a good scheme and I'm glad to see it re-jigged in slightly more generous terms.

My only gripe is that, as it only applies to young players, one years makes or can make a huge difference.

So I see no reason at all to make it based on calendar year, thereby giving those born in early january a whole year extra funding over and above those born end of December.

It would be extremely easy to say that the eligibility goes up to the official entry week of the week in which the player turns 20 (or whatever age).

It's not any more tricky administratively, given every birthday falls within one entry week or another and every tournament has an entry week.

The Optimist · ATP qualifying

Actually thinking more about this CD, I think you and Indie are probably right about the bonus scheme disappearing completely for a year before reappearing as a shadow of its former self with less cash and all sorts of restrictions. And I hadn't thought about the birthday issue, that is a significant unfairness, especially as those born early in the year often also had every advantage early on in the junior years!

Strongbow · All-time great

It seems the 15k rewards are now the 25k rewards, so that's probably how they saved a bit. Don't think DFS will be their new sponsors wink