In February, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced an extension of a deal with Stake – the Curacao-based gambling company which also sponsors sports teams including the Sauber Formula 1 team, and Everton – making it the official betting partner of the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup.
Stake was subsequently found to have broken UK Gambling Commission rules by using pornographic content to promote gambling to young people, and abandoned its licence to operate in the UK.
Stake’s ITF deal remains in place, and tennis’ governing body said in a statement to the BBC: “The ITF partners with a variety of brands from a range of sectors to support our events and tours and 90% of our revenue is reinvested back into the global development of the game.
“All partnerships are rigorously vetted and involve only regulated parties wherever this is relevant.”
The Madrid Open, the Miami Open and Swedish Open are now sponsored by South Africa-based Betway.
In 2023, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) signed a multi-year agreement with online gaming company FanDuel Group, applying to the Tour in North, South and Central America.
The WTA also sells its data to the company Stats Perform, the ATP to Sportradar and the ITF to Infront, for them to distribute to licenced betting operators.
The decision to sell rights in this way was to ensure betting was regulated, replacing the unregulated world of ‘courtsiders’.