Exploring Why Tennis’ Elite Are Unhappy With the Disparity Between Grand Slam Revenue and Prize Money 82j60

A collection of top 20 players from across the ATP and WTA have penned a letter, complete with handwritten signatures, imploring  organisers to reconsider Grand Slam prize money structures.

Despite all four of the Grand Slams offering prize money pools in excess of £45 million — with a minimum of £2m going to the eventual champions in each of the events — elite players feel the level of remuneration is a drop in the ocean compared to overall revenue.

First reported by L’Equipe, the letter demands a “greater distribution of profits” to benefit the “main stakeholders; the players.”

So, this all begs the question, how much of a percentage do players get from Grand Slams’ inconceivably large revenue?

Players Who Signed the Grand Slam Prize Money Letter  5q148

WTA v6w1e

• Iga Swiatek
• Aryna Sabalenka
• Coco Gauff
• Jessica Pegula
• Madison Keys
• Jasmine Paolini
• Mirra Andreeva
• Zheng Qinwen
• Paula Badosa
• Emma Navarro

ATP  5b2mo

• Carlos Alcaraz
• Novak Djokovic
• Jannik Sinner
• Alexander Zverev
• Taylor Fritz
• Casper Ruud
• Jack Draper
• Stefanos Tsitsipas
• Alex de Minaur
• Daniil Medvedev

How Much is Grand Slam Prize Money Worth? k3812

Those at the very upper echelons of elite tennis can typically play 20 tournaments a year, with each of those representing an opportunity to earn prize money.

Ranked players are guaranteed a certain amount each year; £300,000 for the Top 100, £150,000 for ranks 101-175, and £75,000 for ranks 176-250.

However, even in the face of considerable base figures for the very best, the band of disputants who wrote to the four majors have taken issue with their relative lack of compensation, arguing they would cease to exist without their main protagonists.

In 2024, the Australian Open, US Open, French Open and Wimbledon collectively paid out nearly £200m between them. 

Grand Slam Revenue vs Player Prize Money l3j3b

The four pillars of Grand Slam tennis are no doubt offering handsome rewards for its players — particularly for those who reach the latter stages — but it is a trivial amount in comparison to their overall yield.

According to The Athletic, they generate over £1.2 billion per year in revenue.

24-time Grand Slam champion and co-founder of the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) Novak Djokovic, who offered his on the letter sent to the tournaments, was quoted as saying: “The pie split between the governing bodies in major sports, all major American sports, like NFL, NBA, baseball, NHL, is 50 percent. Maybe more, maybe less, but around 50 percent.

“Ours is way lower than that.”

From the old guard to the new generation, Carlos Alcaraz also chimed in on the discussion in an interview with Marca.

“Tennis is a well-paid sport, but it can always be improved because there is a percentage that can be increased for the circuit and the players,” he said.

“Tennis is a well-paid sport, but the percentages have to be fair.”

There is certainly an argument to be had that remuneration at tennis’ showcase events is wildly disproportionate to their colossal revenue.

Collective prize money paid out to players stands at £200m according to the most up-to-date figures, which makes up just 16% of the estimated £1.2bn annual revenue generated by the Slams.

Aryna Sabalenka on why she believes tennis players deserve a greater share of tournament profits:

“The top players have written to the Grand Slams saying they think they should pay more prize money.
Do you agree with that?”

Aryna: “Yes, I do. I think we deserve to get a bit… pic.twitter.com/O15jyu1spk

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) April 18, 2025

Tennis Prize Money Percentages Compared to Other Major Sporting Leagues 5u5a1h

Contextualising the disparity between Grand Slam revenue and what it pays to its players is best grounded by looking further afield at other elite sports.

The English Premier League, for example, saw its players better compensated than the majority of professional sports leagues; 71 percent of the league’s total revenue went to its players.

Meanwhile, North America’s Big Four sports institutions — the NFL, NHL, MLB and NBA — shared around half of its revenue with players.

Even at the other end of the spectrum, Indian Premier League cricketers collected 18 percent of the profits made in one of the lucrative sporting leagues in the world, which is still more than tennis players at Grand Slams.

Of course, there is an argument to be had that tennis has an entirely different structure to those aforementioned leagues. 

Tournaments outside of the Grand Slam events offer a considerably larger slice of the pie, with estimates ranging from 25 to 40 percent across 250, 500 and 100-level Tour events.

With the very nature of Grand Slams being two-to-three week tournaments, and also the only destinations able to cope with the demands of a major tennis event on this scale, they require huge amounts of revenue in order to stage them every year.

With everything from player travel and housing, to spectator catering and transportation, Grand Slams argue that they are doing everything they can to keep driving player prize money forward, whilst also balancing their own interests.

It is also worth noting that Grand Slams are the flagship events for wider tennis organisations in their respective countries. 

These organisations have obligations that stretch far beyond the remit of the sporting leagues mentioned previously. Aside from the revenue needed to recirculate back into funding the Slams, they finance a host of other smaller events and nationwide tennis initiatives.

For example, Tennis Australia, the not-for-profit governing body responsible for staging the Australian Open, says nearly all of its annual revenue stems from the tournament.