Financial success for Australian Open projects reached $ 78 million, said the tournament director

MELBOURNE, Australia – The Australian Open expects to record a loss of more than $ 78 million (AU $ 100 million) from playing the first Grand Slam of the tennis season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said tournament director Craig Tiley on Friday.

The restrictions imposed by the government to slow the spread of the virus meant that Tennis Australia was already having to deal with a maximum number of 30,000 spectators per day. But when the state of Victoria plunged back into a sudden five-day block on Day 5 of the tournament, the gates of Melbourne Park had to be closed to the general public and more than 100,000 tickets were refunded.

In addition to the lost revenue from ticket sales, Tennis Australia also had to pay for a series of protocols related to the coronavirus, including the “hard quarantine” that players were forced to enter Australia last month, when several virus cases were detected on chartered flights to the country.

“It’s gonna be hard [to look at the loss]”Tiley said to the Melbourne SEN radio station.” It will not be easy. We will lose millions of dollars in this event.

“Obviously, we had a huge success with five days without fans, since you don’t sell merchandise [and] sponsors do not obtain activation. You do not sell tickets or premium hospitality. So, five out of 14 days, it’s a huge success.

“We have AU $ 80 million in reserve and we are going to exhaust that and we will take out a loan of AU $ 40 to 60 million. It’s a big loss, but we haven’t finished the number yet. We have yet to see what our recipes are. “

Despite the financial success that Tennis Australia is expected to experience, Tiley said that this year’s Australian Open race is proof that international sporting events can continue as the world struggles to contain COVID-19.

Only one player contracted the virus while in Melbourne, and there was no broadcast from the tournament-related community, according to figures released daily by the Victoria government.

“We have said all along that it is important to do this because we need to have a platform to grow by 2022,” said Tiley. “Australia now has a manual that we can share with the rest of the world.

“We make Melbourneians, Victorians and Australians proud that no one in the pandemic has brought so many international stars from so many hot spots around the world and played an international sporting event for AU $ 86 million and in front of crowds.

“Perhaps there is a way to increase sports and entertainment again; we have the model and we learn a lot ”.

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