British tennis bosses have dismissed a lucrative sponsorship deal that would have seen Queen’s and Eastbourne partner with a Saudi Arabian brand. The Middle Eastern country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), who own a majority stake in Newcastle United, have been involved in long-running talks to extend their sporting influence into the world of tennis.
Saudis have made a huge splash in football and golf by pumping mind-boggling investment into the Saudi Pro League and the LIV Golf tour. Reports indicate that tennis will be an area of high priority for the PIF over the next 12 months.
A landmark sponsorship deal with Queen’s and Eastbourne – two historic grass-court tournaments which take place in the lead-up to Wimbledon – was recently put forward to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) by Saudi investors and the ATP.
Senior figures on the international tour had even gone as far as finalising terms for the partnership, but LTA chiefs who oversee governance in British tennis have flatly rejected the prospect of a Riyadh-based brand’s sponsorship.
In a statement issued to The Telegraph, the LTA said: “We’ve declined to participate in this sponsorship proposal put to us by the ATP and PIF.” The deal would reportedly have been resisted by the All England Club too, blurring the pathway for Saudi involvement in prominent UK tennis events.
The proposal would have lumped Queen’s and Eastbourne into shared sponsorship with several other tournaments, including the Miami Open and the Madrid Open, if it had been approved by the LTA.
Current world No 5 Jessica Pegula addressed the prospect of playing more frequently in Saudi last year, explaining: “I think that if you look at a pros and cons list, we’d obviously have to see there be a lot of pros outweighing the cons to feel comfortable going there.
“Whether that’s seeing them as a group maybe have to donate money to women’s sports or women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, to see some sort of change or action going towards helping those causes in their country. I think that would be something really important that, if we did end up going there, we would want to see.”
