John McEnroe Doesn’t Want to See Tennis Follow Golf’s Saudi Lead
As the world’s premier men’s tennis tour continues its exploratory talks with outside investors, one of the sport’s most vocal figures has leveled a Bronx cheer at a potential partnership between the ATP Tour and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday during an ESPN Wimbledon warmup, John McEnroe said that while he’s not surprised that men’s tennis has been in discussions with the Saudi Public Investment Fund, he’s wary of the ramifications of a future tie-up. “I wouldn’t encourage it personally, the Saudi thing,” McEnroe said, when asked if such an investment may prove to be beneficial for the sport. “I don’t think that’s something that we should be pursuing, per se, [but] it’s not in my hands.”
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The winner of three Wimbledon and four U.S. Open singles titles, McEnroe suggested that such sniffing around on the part of the Saudis was inevitable in the wake of the joint venture between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. The ESPN analyst went on question the integrity of golf’s higher-ups, while noting that much of the debate around the issue has been rife with dissimulation.
“It looked to me like the PGA were total hypocrites when they cut a deal after they’d been fighting [LIV], in my opinion,” McEnroe said. “At the same time, the people that are complaining about it, a lot of those people are hypocrites, because our government does business with [the Saudis].”
Or as one TV exec told Sportico last summer, “If a lousy human-rights record is grounds for not doing business with a given country or organization, international sports investment would dry up completely.”
ATP Tour chairman Andrea Gaudenzi this week confirmed that the organization has been in discussions with the PIF, as well as other would-be backers. Gaudenzi, who earlier this week was re-elected as the head of the men’s tour, told the Financial Times that the ATP would only get in bed with a third party if that investor was certain to preserve the integrity of the game. Gaudenzi went on to say that the tour isn’t in need of cash, before sounding a cautionary note about the risks of dilution.
As McEnroe observed this afternoon, golf and tennis aren’t the only sports to engage with Saudi investors, as the oil-rich nation has a finger in multiple pies—including soccer. “What about [Cristiano] Ronaldo? He’s being paid a couple hundred million a year,” McEnroe said. “They’ve been buying players in other sports, bought boxing fights, you name it.”
The fund’s most recent investments include the purchase of a 75% stake in Ronaldo’s new club, Al Nassr FC, as well as three other Saudi Pro League teams. In its biggest soccer coup to date, the PIF in 2021 snapped up the title to the English Premier League franchise Newcastle United for $409 million. Sportico’s 2023 EPL valuations list Newcastle as the league’s 10th most-valuable franchise, with a net worth of $440 million.
Two years earlier, the fund punted on the chance to buy a 30% stake in Manchester United.
Eighteen-time singles champ Chris Evert, who’s been calling the action for ESPN at Wimbledon since 2011, initially sidestepped the Saudi issue, only to offer a window into her thoughts on the matter later in the call. “I think it’s sportswashing,” Evert said. “I don’t think we need to go there.” (Evert was married to LIV CEO Greg Norman for 18 months in the late aughts.)
However things shake out with the ATP, the Grand Slam tournaments are unlikely to be impacted by their outside investment dealings, as those four events are overseen by the International Tennis Federation. McEnroe, for his part, seemed resigned to an eventual ATP-Saudi tie-up, although he finds the timing of the talks to be rather absurd. “Unfortunately, it’s like, money talks. That’s all that matters,” McEnroe said. “Eventually, you get bought out. It’s like, at some point, someone will offer too much.
“I don’t know why in the hell tennis would suddenly be, ‘Let’s talk to the Saudis after the debacle that we’re watching in golf,’” he said. “To me, it’s comical that it’s even being brought up right now, but that’s par for the course.”
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