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Florida Interests Want In on ATP Las Vegas Tennis Channel Open Bidding
Posted on April 23, 2008
Florida will be getting a new ATP event in 2009 if the state's tennis powers have a say in the fate of the Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas. The beleaguered event has been bought by the ATP but could still be put on the auction block after Las Vegas experienced consistent seasonably-bad weather, a tough calendar spot and poor attendance.
Organizers of two Florida tournaments are hungry to bring more professional tennis to the Sunshine State. John Arrix of Octagon, organizer of the WTA Tour Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, was a bidder (and reportedly one of the finalists) when the ATP Houston event was up for bid last year. He attempted to bring the event to the Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Now Sony Ericsson Open (Miami) organizer Butch Buchholz has announced his intention of bringing the ATP Las Vegas event to the Tampa area -- if the ATP allows entities to bid after buying the event from the Tennis Channel.
"That's an issue with the ATP, an issue with the Tennis Channel, but if there is a possibility that it is moving, we'd have an interest," Buchholz told Play Tennis Florida. "We've talked to the Saddlebrook people and we think they'd be great partners. We think the area demographically would be great; [Tampa is] the 25th largest demographic in America, and it has great potential."
Saddlebrook, in Wesley Chapel, just northeast of Tampa, is already home to U.S. players such as James Blake, the Bryan brothers, John Isner, Amer Delic and others, providing a built-in player base. On the 2009 ATP Calendar the event is reportedly still the same week as the Dubai Tennis Championships, the well-monied tournament that is not a Masters Series event, but still attracts most all of the Top 10 players by handing out large under-the-table appearance fees. Andy Roddick played Dubai rather than Las Vegas this year, and James Blake skipped both events. Moving the event to Florida would assuredly attract a good deal of American talent, in addition to possibly the top-ranked Roddick and Blake. Mardy Fish also makes his home base in Tampa.
Whether U.S. interests will have a chance to even bid on the event is another matter. The ATP is considering moving the event to South Africa to placate South African Airways, one of their major sponsors. Tennis in South Africa started bottoming out after the retirement of Wayne Ferreira, and the South Africa tennis federation is hoping to jump-start tennis nationally. South Africa had no men ranked within the Top 100 on the ATP Rankings entering the Miami event, but South African qualifier Kevin Anderson made some noise by upsetting defending champion Novak Djokovic.
The USTA watched in horror last year as the women's tour denied bidding on the for-sale San Diego event and shipped it to Beijing, lowering the U.S.'s already-scant number of events. When the USTA got wind of the ATP's intention to export yet another pro event, Arlen Kantarian, who heads the USTA's pro development, reportedly sent a terse letter to the ATP outlining his concerns. Buchholz and his staff have worked closely with the USTA over the years, at Miami and in organizing the Pilot Pen/New Haven pro event.
"If it is moved or changed there will be other people who want it also," Buchholz said. "I'm sure we would be one of many groups that would have an interest."
American players such as James Blake and Serena Williams have voiced their desire to stem the tide of pro events leaving the U.S. Williams said the high number of U.S. tournaments when she was a child watching tennis on TV got her involved in the sport.
"There are only a handful [of tournaments] in the United States [now]," Williams said. "When I was younger there were so many: Chicago, Houston, D.C., everywhere. I got to see a lot of tennis. That's how my dad got us into tennis. If you have every tournament in Europe or Asia, you're going to get more European or Asian players, as opposed to American players. I think that's the root of the problem."
As of late April, still no official word from the ATP as to the fate of the event.
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