While not 400 players can make a living from tennis, betting providers make billions from the sport. Also thanks to the help of a Swiss company. Novak Djokovic wants to change that.
Simon Häring / ch media
Although sports betting is banned or heavily regulated in some countries around the world, bettors find loopholes everywhere. In addition, most providers are located in tax havens such as Malta, Gibraltar or Isle of Man. Industry experts estimate that they have a turnover of almost ten billion francs a year in Germany alone.
Stands up for other tennis players: Novak Djokovic.Image: keystone
The fact is: sports betting has long since become a part of society. The providers have managed to create a dependency that also serves as protection. 16 of 18 Bundesliga clubs work with a betting provider. The most money is bet on football, some of which then flows to the clubs and therefore also to the players.
It’s different with tennis, which follows in second place. There, too, providers often act as sponsors, but the money trickles down to tournament organizers and associations. At least that’s what Novak Djokovic suspects. He recently said: “The betting companies earn hundreds of millions, maybe even billions. But we players only receive crumbs – or nothing at all.”
Players are not allowed to advertise for betting providers
He finds the Janus-faced nature of tennis particularly annoying: players are not allowed to advertise for betting providers, but tournaments are. At the same time, they don’t pass on any of this money. Djokovic’s demand: “Half of the revenue must go to us players.”
Novak Djokovic is responding to his criticism of a lucrative deal that the men’s professional association, the ATP, concluded in March. The St.Gallen-based company Sportradar has secured ATP data and betting streaming rights for six years from January 2024. How much the ATP will pass on to the players from this deal is unknown.
Carsten Koerl is the managing director of Sportradar.Image: imago
What is clear, however, is who particularly benefits from this business. “Our offer offers betting providers innovative and first-class products” that “provide tennis fans with a richer, more comprehensive experience,” says Sportradar managing director Carsten Koerl. Sportradar is allowed to use player data and share it with online bookmakers. What is left for the players? Nothing.
Sportradar is allowed to use player data
Sportradar sees itself as a service provider for sports media, the sports betting industry and sports associations. Customers include: FIFA, UEFA, IOC, NBA, NHL, MLB. The list could be expanded as desired. Sportradar summarizes offers tailored to betting providers under Betradar. The offer: “Betting odds suggestions, results service, market monitoring and trading.” Everything betting providers need to make even more profit from sports. Around 900 bookmakers use Sportradar’s services, including Bet365, William Hill and Ladbrokes.
For years, Novak Djokovic campaigned in the ATP Players’ Council to limit the influence of betting providers, or at least regulate them more closely. “Because we have to ensure that our sport stays clean,” says the Serb. He also knows: the opposite is the case. Tennis is not only lucrative for betting providers, but also for betting fraudsters.
On the one hand, the counting method allows for endless betting options, but on the other hand, it is difficult to prove if a player intentionally loses points. In addition, fewer than 400 players can make a living from tennis. In view of the astronomical sums of money that are made in tennis, this is sheer mockery. “A failure of our sport,” Djokovic calls it. Because those who earn less are more susceptible to fraud.
Djokovic wants to use his power
Because he was unable to push through the reforms that Djokovic wanted in the ATP Players’ Council, he founded the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), a players’ union, around two years ago. The 24-time Grand Slam winner says: “I have influence and power and would like to use it to work for better conditions.” People talk too often about how many millions the winners of a Grand Slam tournament received, but far too little about how few players could make a living from tennis.
After all, part of the enormous sums that come from transactions with betting providers are earmarked and flow into the ATP pension fund. However, players can only claim the pension when they are 50 or 55 years old. This means that anyone who resigns at 30 or 35, as is usual, has to wait at least 20 years before benefiting from this money. That’s exactly what Novak Djokovic wants to change (aargauerzeitung.ch)
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2023-10-05 03:38:57
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