The head of Canadian Tennis has admitted that his organisation will have to reduce their investment into the sport for up to the next three years in the wake of their key moneymaking tournament being suspended.
On Saturday it was announced that the WTA Rogers Cup has been suspended until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The local government in Montreal has officially cancelled all events until August 30th in a bid to curb the spread of the virus. There are also fears over the men’s tournament taking place, which is set to be held in Toronto. Although a final decision is yet to be made. Montreal and Toronto take it in turns to host the men’s and women’s tournament.
The decision was one that Tennis Canada would have been extremely reluctant to do. The Rogers Cup generates an astonishing 94% of the money which is used to invest in tennis development within the country. Without that money, there will be a significant impact on the sports rising stars. The setback comes at a time when Canada is establishing themselves as a powerhouse in the world of tennis. Thanks to the success of US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime and others.
“We put on these two magnificent tennis tournaments every August in Toronto and Montreal and they generate by far the lion’s share of the profit that we invest in growing the game of tennis coast to coast.” Tennis Canada boss Michael Downey told tsn.ca.
“While we get support from the government from Sport Canada and Own the Podium, and we appreciate that support, it is only six per cent of the investment we put into tennis development. So, there’s no doubt this year is going to be very difficult. We’ve already cut most of the tennis development programming for the balance of the year.” He added.
Should the men’s tournament also get the chop in 2020, Downey estimates the total loss to be ‘north of $10-million.’ Outside of the Rogers Cup, the organisation also receives financial support from Sport Canada and their own investments. Although that only amounts to six per cent. It is this self-sufficiency that has left the organisation at risk.
In a bleak outlook Downey, who was previously head of the Lawn Tennis Association, admits Tennis Canada’s investments could be affected up to 2023. It has been confirmed that staff working at the organisation has been told there will be a restructuring process in the wake of the current situation.
“When you look down the road, because it will be a significant loss this year, into the multi-millions, it won’t just impact what we can invest in tennis development this year, it’s going to impact what we can invest in 2021 and 2022 and maybe even 2023.” He revealed.
“We’ll be able to make an investment, because these tournaments will come back next year stronger than ever, but we won’t be able to afford to invest at the level that we’ve historically been able to because we have to actually get that money back.”
In a bid to prevent the undoing of their progress in recent years, Downey has hinted that he will seek help from the Government in the coming months. Although he didn’t shed light on what that will involve.
“We expect to get more government support down the road. Not right now, because the government is doing what they have to do and that’s focusing on the health and well-being of Canadians and making sure Canadians are employed, but later this year we think there will be an opportunity for us to make a case for greater support, because the sport deserves it and we’ve been self-reliant for decades,’” he explained.
With the men’s Roger Cup tournament in limbo, there is anxiety for those working for Downey and his team. Whilst never directly saying it, a series of redundancies or similar are also expected to be made. It is unclear as to how many or in what departments.
“Like any business, when you have some level of financial turmoil you’ve got to restructure, you got to look to the future and we have to do it like any other business and they understand that. It will be a sad day when we move forward on this, but like any business you got to do this,” Downey concluded.
According to their 2018 Annual Report, 86% of Tennis Canada’s revenue was generated by tennis tournaments alone.
