DOES TENNIS NEED TO BE IN THE OLYMPICS?



The Olympics come around every 4 years. As a young boy, the Olympics always felt special to me. They allow everyone to watch the best in the world perform for two weeks under the spotlight. We are seeing many of the competitors for the first time and for the athletes themselves, this could be the pinnacle of their careers, they may never get the opportunity to represent their country at the Olympics again.

So why can't I care less about 
watching the Olympics? 

The only sports I will watch over the next two weeks in Tokyo will be the traditional Olympic sports such as track and field, swimming, weightlifting, and Judo, etc. 

For me, it's a time for traditional Olympic sports to shine on the world stage, particularly the Marathon and the 100-meters.



The IOC has begun to get greedy. They know the popularity of the Olympics is dropping and are now including non-traditional Olympic sports, like tennis, to help boost their ratings.


The Olympics are a Marketing Disaster

However, by allowing so many newer sports into the Olympics the Olympic brand has been damaged and the public is confused.

What the Olympic committee should have done in the beginning was create subsidiary brands. They should have created a "Next Generation Olympics", held it separately, and marketed the newer sports and the event to the younger generation.

The Para Olympics have been handled correctly. They operate separately. No confusion for the public and have held the Para Olympic Games at a different time to help attract  100% of the public's attention.

By mixing these newer next-generation sports in with the traditional Olympic sports they have done major damage to the Olympic brand. Imagine trying to get the marketing of the Olympics on point for a teenager and a grandparent at the same time!


The Reason Tennis is an Olympic Sport

So why did the ITF and the IOC ever decide to join together? 

Tennis is now the most popular individual sport in the world. Its popularity around the time of the Grand Slams is enormous.  The star power on the womens' side is unparalleled in sport. Can you name 20 women tennis players past or present? Sure you can, it's easy. Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Billie Jean King, Maria Sharapova, Monica Seles, Chrissy Evert, and Martina Navratilova are household names.

Can you name 5 women players or 
athletes of any other sport?

The Olympics needed Tennis. They thought it would boost their ratings. But the ITF were also looking for ways to develop into China, a huge untapped market.

The problem for the ITF was that China only considered Olympic sports worthy of support within their country. Participation in the Olympics was the criteria for any funding or infrastructure to be built.

It became a win-win for the ITF and the IOC. But what about the players? 

There is no doubt that the prospect of representing your country and winning an Olympic medal in tennis is attractive to most players. But it is also clear that all the top players consider the Olympics as a sideshow to the main tennis events on the ATP and WTA Tours, and so they should.




Over the next two weeks, Novak Djokovic will attempt to win the Singles Gold Medal for tennis and keep alive his chances of completing a Golden Slam, all Grand Slam titles along with the Olympic gold in one year. Doing so will cement his claim to be the greatest tennis player of all time.

I'll be watching to see if he can complete a Golden Slam but I'll be just as interested in the track and field events, and the swimming. For me, those are the true Olympic sports.



Location: Bangkok, Thailand

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