Novak Djokovic calls on tennis to split gambling sponsorship revenue with players
World number one argues tournaments sponsored by gambling firms should give at least half of the revenue generated from these deals to players
Novak Djokovic has urged for an overhaul of tennis’ relationship with gambling sponsorship to give players a greater share of revenue derived from the deals.
The current world number one called on tournaments that benefit from gambling sponsorship to give at least 50% of revenue generated from these deals to players.
Under current regulations, tennis players are not allowed to have betting sponsors on their clothes, but organisations and tournaments are allowed to secure agreements with gambling firms.
As it stands, a portion of revenue generated from these agreements currently goes towards players’ pensions.
However, Djokovic has claimed that players should receive a greater share of this revenue if governing bodies are unwilling to allow players to have betting company’s logos on their clothing.
Djokovic, who co-founded the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), has urged his fellow players to push for more of this revenue to be given to them while they are still playing.
Speaking in a recent video on PTPA’s YouTube channel, Djokovic said: “I know that a pretty significant chunk goes to the player pension, and which is something that I always support but we have to remind ourselves that you only become eligible for a pension when you’re 50 or 55.
“For a player that retires when he or she is 30 or 35, he or she has to wait for 20-plus years to actually start receiving in getting the benefits from that deal.
“I think players are probably not either fully aware or maybe they just are not pushing enough for their fair share from the betting. They are giving much more than they are receiving. They’re literally receiving nothing from it,” Djokovic added.
The Serbian added that he would not agree personal deals with operators but he was accepting of the fact other professionals would.
He commented: “Personally, I probably would not get a betting sponsor on my sleeve, but I know that probably 95% of the players would do that.
“I would support that but if that’s not allowed then what we would deserve to have is the 50% of the share that the tournament gets from these sponsorship deals with betting houses.”