In a significant move to enhance the quality of the competition, men's Tennis governing body ATP on Thursday announced a record increase of $37.5 million in prize money to $217.9 million for the 2023 season.
Explaining the decision, ATP stated that the overall prize money pot was for both the ATP and Challenger Tours, with ATP Tour players collectively taking home an additional $18.6 millions of on-site prize money from next year.
Earlier, this year, the ATP had announced that purses on the Challenger Tour would receive a significant boost. "The record increase also includes a significant uplift on the ATP Challenger Tour, which will see on-site money grow by 75 percent, from $12.1 million to $21.1 million," the ATP's statement read.
Even in June, the men's governing body informed that the players and tournaments will share profit 50-50 from 2023 as part of its OneVision plan - primarily aimed at boosting revenue from media and television rights. In its fresh statement, ATP announced a revised bonus pool structure introduced through OneVisioN which is set to deliver bonus pools of $21.1 million in 2023, a $9.8 million increase on 2022, to an expanded group of top-performing players.
The ATP has also claimed that its flagship master's 1000 tournaments in Madrid, Rome and Shanghai will be held over 12 days and with bigger draw sizes from 2023.
"Our player are world-class athletes and it’s our priority to ensure they are compensated accordingly. “These record increases in 2023 are a strong statement for the ATP Tour and highlights our commitment to raising the bar in tennis," ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said in a statement.
Notably, the 2023 international tennis season will begin on December 29 with the inaugural edition of the United Cap - a new mixed-sex $15 million tournament featuring teams from 18 nations playing matches across three Australian cities.
