LTA commercial revenue up 40 per cent driven by expanded Queen’s Club event
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) expects to increase commercial revenue by almost 40 per cent this year thanks to its expanded championships at Queen’s Club and a raft of new partnerships.
Commercial income grew 16 per cent to £10.6m in 2024 but it set for a far bigger jump in 2025, making the national governing body less reliant on its subsidy from Wimbledon.
The chief driver is the addition of a women’s tournament to the LTA’s flagship event at Queen’s, turning it into a fortnight-long warm-up to the Grand Slam.
That has gained a new sponsor in HSBC, one of eight new commercial deals already this year. Today the organisation will announce a ninth, with yoghurt brand Fage.
“In aggregate, it has displayed record growth for the LTA from a commercial association standpoint,” Chris Pollard, LTA managing director of commercial and operations, told City AM.
“Last week we announced our 2024 report, where we exceeded £10m in gross commercial partnerships revenue for the first time. And we’re actually on track for 2025 to get very close to 40 per cent year on year growth.
“It’s a very, very strong growth track record which just goes to underline the health more broadly of tennis in Britain.”
Other partners secured or retained this year include Lexus, Infosys, Howden and Schweppes.
Expanding Queen’s to a fortnight is “probably the most significant cause of the increased partnership values”, said Pollard.
“It’s an award-winning global event in London,” he added. “Now that we can offer brands some of the best women’s players alongside the men across a two-week period, that just provides them a tremendous platform for them to activate around that event.”
LTA and tennis a great fit for us, says Fage
The HSBC Championships, as it will be known, is set to feature six of the men’s current top 10 and 10 of the women’s top 16 – plus Naomi Osaka, Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter.
More than 90 per cent of tickets for the June fortnight have already gone and the LTA expects a full sell-out for both weeks.
The governing body remains dependent on its share of Wimbledon’s profits, which amounted to £50.4m of its £102.4m total revenue last year, although that reliance is easing.
“The LTA was very, very reliant on the All England Club’s surplus and in 2019 that represented 68 per cent of all revenues,” said Pollard.
“It’s not quick to shift that number, but we as a business are very proud that it is very likely to be 50-50 this year.”
Fage marketing director Andrea Di Martino said its partnership with the LTA, which also includes supporting youth and female programmes, came from tennis being “a great fit” for the brand.
“On top of this, tennis fans are already heavy users of our yoghurt for its unique characteristics,” he added.
“Our commitment to tennis is becoming stronger and stronger in all the countries we operate and for the UK, our second most important market, it was natural to speak to the LTA as we see this as a long-term strategic partnership.”