ATP undertakes leadership changes to meet the needs of a “fantastic” tour
Over 40 sport industry professionals were consulted by ATP to improve its governing body and solve the problems which shouldn’t be there in a world with so many legends still playing, according to a Reuters interview with director Alex Inglot.
Inglot pointed out the value of the men’s circuit and thinks that the leadership needs to raise up to the expectations: “Let’s be frank here, the product is fantastic. We’ve got incredible legends still on court, we’ve got a fantastic pipeline of tomorrow’s talent, and we’ve got incredible stages for them to perform on. We’ve got passionate fans, the hills here in Wimbledon are heaving, so we’re in no emergency scenario. But can we make a few tweaks to make sure that the structures and the governance and the processes are as efficient and as professional as possible to really squeeze the juice out of what we have? Yeah. I think we can. I think we can always improve. Whether it’s governance and processes, communication and transparency, whether it’s reviewing and addressing influences, those are things that I feel strongly about, that I told the (ATP) Council I would focus on and that we can improve on.”
The director mentioned some of the problems that interfere in the board: “Generally, the reality is that there are only a few big issues that are pretty much zero-sum games. Whether it’s prize money, whether it’s changes to the calendar, whether it’s reviewing formats or things like that. So in those situations where interests are intrinsically differing, they cause frustration and friction almost by definition.”
In 2019, the three-year term of the actual Chairman and President Chris Kermode ends. A decision of the ATP Council rejected the extension of his term.
Changes are coming to the actual form of leadership in the men’s tour governance as Inglot spoke to many people, inside or outside of the tennis sphere, to find the best way to improve the current leadership structure: “I spoke to over 40 individuals, from within tennis, as well as experts from other sports to objectively assess where we were leadership wise. Should we be splitting the role of the chairman and the president/CEO? For me, even on a pure European corporate governance model, that seems to make sense. I believe that the organisation has now grown to such a size, the sport has grown to such a size and the entertainment environment we’re in is so evolved, that I think splitting the roles does make sense, where you have the chairman who can focus on stakeholder management, is focused on running the board, managing the board, and they can focus on really driving a vision that can really bind everyone together. And then we can have a president/CEO who is definitely inputting into the vision, but who is also managing the team, operationally, and can focus on delivering the finalised vision.”
Alex Inglot was excited about the ideas of the people who showed their willingness to change things into good: “We’ve already had a few interviews and we’ve come across some really great people. Some of them are tennis, I wouldn’t say insiders, but people who really understand tennis already because they have some relationships. But then we’ve also got people who are from outside sport and tennis and they are offering some really interesting perspectives.
“So I’m actually very optimistic that we’re going to find a really interesting combination for our leadership going forward. We’ve seen some really bright individuals. It makes me very hopeful. We’ve got a few more phases, a few more first rounds to go, but we’re already seeing some really creative, talented people who are setting out some really interesting propositions.”
However, the director knows that a bumpy ride is ahead of ATP even though there is light at the end of the tunnel: “This is why I remain hopeful... there’s no doubt that we’ve had some troubles. We’ve got a new board, or half a new board, we’ve pushed forward with a new leadership structure because there’s going to be a split role, and individuals coming in the next few months. It’s a growth phase and, as in other walks of life, there are growing pains.There’s a little bit of pain here and things are bubbling away a little bit perhaps more than they would normally. But we are in good shape. Speaking to these candidates, they are really trying to shift the paradigm, they are disruptive people and they’re like, ‘I see more opportunity... I think the ATP are not realising their full potential’.”
According to the conclusion of the interview, things are heading into the right direction in the ATP: “There are really exciting conversations going on. The ingredients are there, the goodwill seems to be growing. I’m encouraged. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be plain sailing, it doesn’t mean everything is going to be fine from today or tomorrow onwards. There will be growing pains, there will be hiccups but I’m positive.”
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2JyEoc6
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