The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) has decided to take a step that goes beyond the usual locker-room demands and moves squarely into the financial and structural terrain of the sport. The union aims to raise up to $1 billion to drive a profound redesign of the governance and commercialization model of professional tennis, an initiative that involves creating a new holding company capable of concentrating commercial, audiovisual, and sponsorship rights under a single structure.
To move forward with this roadmap, the PTPA has gone to market in search of a banking advisor to help shape this ambitious corporate vehicle. The organization has already requested formal proposals from investment banks and financial advisory firms to define the model’s architecture, valuation, and potential capitalization, in a process whose deadline for expressions of interest ends on February 6 and has already attracted interest from several entities.
A holding company to reorganize the business of tennis
The proposal envisions the creation of a parent company that would coordinate the main economic assets of professional tennis: commercial rights, audiovisual rights, sponsorships, and even aspects linked to governance. The intention is for this new structure to centralize the economic exploitation of the circuit while, at the same time, giving players greater influence over how these resources are managed.
Although it has not yet been defined whether a capital increase will be necessary to complete the financing, the $1 billion figure serves as a reference for the scope the initiative seeks to achieve. The PTPA is looking not only for financial backing but also for a strategic partner capable of bringing order to an ecosystem that has historically been fragmented among multiple governing bodies, tournaments, and circuits that often operate under their own, and sometimes conflicting, logics.
The institutional context and Djokovic’s departure
Founded in 2020 by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil, the PTPA currently represents around 600 players and has focused its efforts on improving working conditions, safety, scheduling, and financial compensation within the circuit. However, at the beginning of January, Djokovic himself announced his departure from the project, citing disagreements related to transparency and internal governance within the organization he helped create.
In parallel, the association is pursuing a lawsuit initiated in 2025 alongside twelve players against the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the ATP, the WTA, and the International Tennis Integrity Agency, over alleged practices that violate antitrust legislation. A recent agreement with the organizers of the Australian Open has served as momentum to advance the construction of a structural framework capable of addressing more comprehensively the issues raised in the lawsuit, which now translates into this search for funding and corporate reorganization of professional tennis.
