MASON, Ohio — Ohio taxpayers pledged $130 million last year to keep the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament from relocating to Charlotte, securing its long-term future in Mason, Ohio.
But the sport’s major governing bodies are bringing new wrinkles of risk to that investment by exploring major changes to the global tennis calendar while courting new investments from Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund — which shook up the Professional Golf Association in 2021 by launching the rival LIV Golf Tour — announced a strategic partnership with the ATP Tour in May. That investment followed a push by the sport's Grand Slam tournaments to establish a new Premier Tour that would concentrate wealth and talent in 14 cities around the globe.
“The great news on that is the Cincinnati Open is one of nine masters series events. We have a seat at the table for every discussion that’s going on, at every level,” said Bob Moran, president of Beemok Sports and Entertainment.
Beemok and its corporate affiliates are investing more than $400 million to make the Mason campus a long-term host of a Masters 1000 level event. That designation makes it a more important tour stop than any location except Wimbledon and the U.S., French and Australian Open tournaments.
But that could change if the sport’s main governing bodies — Association of Tennis Professionals, Women’s Tennis Association and International Tennis Federation — reshape their tours to maximize sponsorship opportunities and global media reach.
That’s because the United States is now home to four of the top 14 global tournaments, said Adam Beissel, an associate professor at Miami University who studies and teaches about the business of sports.
“If you’re designing this thing from scratch, you would probably only have one or two dates in the U.S. It would make sense to put them in Rome and Monte Carlo and Spain, to really get that return on investment,” Beissel said. “This proposal, to me, raises questions about the long-term viability of the Cincinnati Open.”
Why it matters
The WCPO 9 I-Team has been looking into the tennis industry’s realignment plans because of the Cincinnati Open’s growing impact on the Tri-State economy. A 2023 study by the Economics Center at the University of Cincinnati predicts the Cincinnati Open will deliver $207 million in economic impact to the region after it expands in 2025, supporting 1,610 jobs with annual earnings of $54.6 million.
That impact comes from the $260 million expansion of the Mason campus into a year-round facility for racquet sports and concerts. And it comes from the tournament itself, which will roughly double in size next year with a 14-day event that draws 96 players, compared to 56 players over nine days this year.
Beissel said those improvements could help the Cincinnati Open retain a top-tier event when – and if – a new elite tour is launched. But he questions how long that can last.
“There will be other markets around the world that would be interested,” Beissel said. “There might be some questions asked in the long term, as international destinations with major financial dollars come online in Paris and London and Barcelona that all want premiere dates.”
The Saudi factor
Saudi Arabia has demonstrated a keen interest in hosting more tennis events. Its Public Investment Fund has signed a three-year deal to host the WTA Finals starting this year.
And Saudi Arabia is seen as a front-runner to host a Masters 1000 men’s tournament as early as 2027. Saudi Arabia has separately expressed an interest in buying Masters 1000 events in Miami and Madrid, according to The Athletic.
In May, PIF announced a naming rights sponsorship for the ATP Tour’s ranking system, in a press release that also named six tournaments it planned to sponsor. Miami and Indian Wells in Southern California were on the list, but the Cincinnati Open was not.
“We didn’t have an opportunity to talk to them about that,” Moran said, because Beemok was preparing to launch this year’s Cincinnati Open when deals were announced. “Those are ongoing conversations for 2025 with us and PIF. But for this year, it was just late in the game for us.”
Beemok's leverage
The I-Team tried to reach the PIF and the governing bodies identified in this story. Only the WTA responded with a statement that included:
“We welcome conversations about how we can drive the premium element of the sport through an improved calendar that supports the well-being of players and protects the significant investments being made by our Tour events. These conversations have been ongoing for some time. There is no question that the Cincinnati Open will continue to be one of the elite stops.”
In addition to its $270 million purchase of rights to operate the Mason tournament, Beemok Capital has some leverage in keeping its place at the sport’s pinnacle. It owns a 10% stake in ATP Media Holdings Ltd., which contributed $63.3M in gross revenue to the organization in 2022, according to financial statements for ATP Tour Inc. In addition, Moran serves on the WTA board and the ATP’s Tournament Advisory Council.
That’s why Moran said he’s confident the Cincinnati Open will hold serve.
“Cincinnati Open is in a great place for the future no matter what. And we are driving those conversations as much as anything,” said Moran. “I can’t say I’m a hundred percent sure of anything. But I’m very, very confident of that.”
