October 2005
Another Senior Moment
By Douglas Robson
After a three-year hiatus, the senior tour may be heading back to the U.S.
In 2001, the men's senior tour folded in the United States and was struggling in Europe. Once a powerful vehicle showcasing matchups between the likes of Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, the tour was hurting financially and short on stars. Though McEnroe was still involved, Connors had pulled a Howard Hughes and disappeared. Many of the other players -- guys like Mansour Bahrami and Andres Gomez -- were relatively obscure in the U.S. and well past their prime. But the tour, which has survived in Europe as the Delta Tour of Champions, has recently signed up a fresh group of younger players, including Jim Courier, Goran Ivanisevic, Thomas Muster, and Richard Krajicek. Matches are more competitive, the tennis more compelling.
"I have noticed a difference since the new players arrived," said David Law, who handles public relations for the Delta Tour. "It's 70 percent serious competition with some fun as well. And no one is killing themselves if they lose -- except McEnroe."
Last year, the Delta Tour had seven events throughout Europe, all before big crowds. The six-day season-ending Champions Masters in London had a total attendance of almost 30,000. And this year there are 11 events culminating with the Masters, to be held Nov. 29 -- Dec. 4.
Indeed, the tour's financial prospects are looking up thanks to the packed houses, stronger sponsorship support -- particularly for the year-end event -- and the fact that the players are taking less in up-front guarantees than they did a few years ago. Now they earn their keep mainly with prize money. "It's one of the reasons that the tour has become more competitive," Law says.
This success, along with the prospect of signing recently retired American players like Pete Sampras, Todd Martin, and Michael Chang, has sparked plans to relaunch the tour in the U.S. next year.
"The planning is in the infant stages, but we're talking to some of the players and developing proposals," says Gavin Forbes, director of men's tennis at the International Management Group, which co-owns the Delta Tour in Europe with the ATP and has sole ownership in the U.S. "We're receiving interest from the business community, primarily because of the personalities that are involved, and the personalities that could be on the tour."
Stars are key. It will take Americans like Sampras and Chang joining forces with the marquee name already on board to help the tour get off the ground in the U.S. "We have a whole new breed of player who is still competitive and in great shape," Forbes says. "And McEnroe, as we all know, is still competitive."
Courier, who won the Masters last year, is bullish on the tour's prospects in the U.S., and Sampras himself says that he might come on board. "It would certainly be a boon for the tour if Pete came out of retirement," Courier says. (For more on Sampras' future, see our interview with him on Page 20.)
Chang is also open to the idea of playing if he can fit it into his schedule of speaking engagements, seminary classes, and his first love, fishing. "I would certainly entertain (playing)," Chang says. "It would be nice to get out there and swat a few balls with some of the -- I don't want to say old-timers, because we're not so old -- but the guys who have been around like a Pete or a Jim or a (Boris) Becker."
In retrospect, it wasn't simply the lack of stars that killed the tour in the U.S. It was a confluence of related problems -- scarce corporate sponsorship dollars, the failure to keep umbrella sponsors like Nuveen, players who demanded big up-front guarantees -- that undermined the multicity tour, which was started in 1992 by Connors and his business partners, Ray Benton and Henry Brehm. The end finally came with the unfortunate timing of the tour's scheduled New York City stop six days after 9/11.
Securing an umbrella sponsors is part of the business plan once again, but "it's not critical," Forbes says. "We think we can make a tour work one way or the other."
There will be a test run of sorts, though it's not directly related to the senior tour. This Nov. 10 -- 13, at the Westside Tennis Club in Houston, promoter Jim McIngvale will put on an exhibition with eight players: McEnroe, Becker, Courier, Ivanisevic, Martin, Aaron Krickstein, Mikael Pernfors, and Mats Wilander.
If that's a success, it will only add to the calls for the seniors to officially hop the pond. If they do, Forbes says there will be one to four events per season. The cities being considered are New York, San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The events would be an official part of the Delta Tour, allowing players to earn ranking points and prize money en route to the Masters in London.
"With the right players and a selection of cities that don't get ATP and WTA events, the tour has a good shot," says Brehm, who's now managing director of the Vizion Group, which produces sports and entertainment events. "Exhibitions and one-time events don't work. Fans want to see real competition, not just a show."
For the first time in years, the senior tour seems ready to deliver both.