Tony Godsick, John McEnroe outlines business of tennis ahead of Laver Cup

Laver Cup Chair and Team8 CEO Tony Godsick and John McEnroe joined CNBC’s “Squawk Box” to discuss the 2024 Laver Cup and the business of tennis. The interview has been edited for length, clarity and brevity.

Q: The business of the Laver Cup, how much of it is the sponsorship versus the tickets versus the media rights and I’m thinking about the Tennis Channel and others?
Godsick: I think right now we look at the tickets and the sponsorships as our two major drivers. It was very important for us to when we started to build the Laver Cup that we got a lot of eyeballs on the event. … So sponsorship, we do very well in ticket sales. We do very well in media, we do well. But in terms of a blanket broadcast, we do great. But in terms of money, I think that is something we’re going to continue to work on. And as you see, streaming is where it’s going to be in the future. … So I would imagine, sort of, we liked to be a leader in that area in tennis and I wouldn’t be surprised in the future if you see this living exclusive, potentially on one of the streaming platforms.

Q: John what do you think of the business of tennis right now?
McEnroe: I think the business of tennis is doing better. … The game is not accessible enough, not affordable enough yet. … And final thing, at some point in the majors, the players have to be in partnered with those events. I totally disagree with the business side of that right now. We’re getting bamboozled as we’ve been all through the years even though there is more money then there has ever been. There needs to be a partnership like there is in the NFL, NBA, NHL, etc.

Godsick: I actual think the business of tennis is doing really well. … the U.S. Open just had a million people come through their gates, they just did a new media deal with ESPN that was reported to be over $2B over a long term deal. You see all these new brands coming into tennis you know to compete with Nike and Adidas. You got New Balance that’s killing it. You got ON that’s killing it, you got Hugo Boss coming into the business. The fashion world is really loving tennis. And then you look at the stars. I mean Taylor Swift was out at the U.S. Open.

Q: Do you then have to have the Majors together in some way should there be a overall affected league, is this to be like the PGA? What would the model be?
McEnroe: The players have an association, but they don’t have a union. So we need to do a lot better. Cause the sport is worldwide, players are spread out all over the world, it’s tough for us to agree on a lot of things. And in order to get what we want … You probably need to boycott a Major or two, in truth. That’s the only way to show these guys we mean business.

Godsick: Certainly sitting down at the table and having dialogue. Look the Grand Slams, I heard a stat recently that they make 80% of the revenue, the four slams in the sport of tennis. So obviously they are doing very well. The players need to be compensated more. … So everyone needs to sit down at the table and figure out how we move this sport forward (“Squawk Box”, CNBC, 9/19).