As the world’s best male tennis players head for London for the second edition of the rock ‘n’ roll sportfest that is the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, Adam Helfant might be excused for puffing his chest out just a little.
Not that it is in the 46-year-old New Yorker’s nature of course. It’s jut simply the case that since taking the helm at the ATP Tour in early 2009, things have gone remarkably well. Last year’s Finals at London’s O2 Arena turned out to be one of the sports events of the year. Spectacularly presented in a uniquely London, unforgettably 21st century style, it appeared to move men’s tennis into a new era.
The packed arena provided the perfect setting for some of the world’s most recognised athletes to do their gladiatorial thing in pursuit of a £2.7 million prize fund, and the fact that the surprise winner was Nikolay Davydenko rather than Rafa or Roger certainly did the sport little-to-no harm. After all, the deeper its star pool, the wider its appeal. But the success of the Finals is by no means the only positive to be taken from a sport which currently appears to be on an upward curve.
Helfant succeeded former Disney executive Etienne de Villiers as CEO of the ATP - the body formed in 1972 as a players association that now operates as an equal partnership between players and tournament members - in January 2009. The appointment of the lawyer and former Nike man was seen in some quarters as something of a surprise.
Tennis insiders had been expecting somebody with closer links to the sport after de Villiers had appeared to lose the confidence of players over plans to change the schedule and downgrade certain popular tournaments. That said, Nike is one of the best finishing schools in the business and as someone once said: if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.
“I was already a great fan of the sport and knew what I was getting into,” Helfant says. “I knew that what was happening on court was fantastic. That provided a very strong foundation for the future and despite the state of the economy we had the best possible chance to grow and engage with our fans.”
To all appearances, Helfant has switched seamlessly from his role at Nike to the Tour and that may well be, in part at least, because of the grounding he received with the world’s biggest sport goods company. “I had the good fortune to work with and then to succeed Ian Todd at Nike and it would be hard to find a person who had a more profound effect on my career,” he says.
From day one Helfant had a full to-do list. Long-time sponsor Mercedes had ended its involvement at the end of 2008; the end of season event was moving to London, and being rebranded as the ATP World Tour Finals, and needed to succeed; and there was still some tinkering to do with the calendar. In fact the calendar has always appeared to be the biggest issue facing tennis - on both the men’s and women’s tours.
Even de Villiers’ predecessor, the American Mark Miles, had his work cut out trying to find a magic formula which ensures the ATP Tour events were understandable and recognisable to the public in a packed tennis schedule which also includes the four Grand Slams and the Davis Cup. For years the issue facing the Tour was that there appeared to be too much tennis and that the public couldn’t fathom if or why a particular tournament was relevant.
The introduction of the ATP World Tour Masters, the season-ending Finals and the designation of tournaments according to the number of ranking points on offer, have each been a part of the fix…but the issue won’t go away. “There has been significant progress in many areas but the calendar certainly remains one of my priorities,” says Helfant.
“We are now taking a good look at how we can lengthen the off-season. The health and well-being of our players is a Tour-wide issue and it is the responsibility of the governing body to address this. There is no easy solution but we are committed to giving it our best shot and expect to have addressed this when we agree the 2012 and 2013 calendars at the end of this year.”
The commitment to player welfare is only to be expected. This is, after all, a players’ organisation and with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, the ATP’s two biggest stars, sitting respectively as president and vice president of the Players’ Council, there is a clear appreciation that success is built on the talent. “It is all about the depth and diversity of the players,” says Helfant.
“On the Tour there are players from around 100 different countries with 35 nations represented in the top 100. Of course we also have great champions in Federer and Nadal and their profile has helped create a situation where interest in the game is at an all-time high.
“We are very proud of the overwhelmingly positive image of the sport and the players, particularly when you see what is going on in other sports. Our players are helping to shape the future and the re-election of Federer and Nadal to the Players’ Council simply highlights their willingness to assume responsibility and take their roles seriously.”
For the full interview see the latest edition of SportBusiness International published November 1.
