Business of Sports January 21, 2010, 6:10PM EST

Pro Sports Raises Millions for Haiti

(page 3 of 3)

Story Tools

Regardless, Sharapova will be seeing a far smaller percentage of sales from her new Nike dress line than she would if she had actually advanced in Melbourne. Tag Heuer and Prince can't be very happy, either, as the pair of her biggest sponsors (along with Nike) had planned new-product launches this month to coincide with the kickoff of her supposedly first healthy season in two years. According to USA Today, Sharapova is "working on a branding strategy that can outlast her playing days, similar to those employed by Michael Jordan and Greg Norman."

Tennis star Andy Murray should probably also stick to his day job. Along with fellow ATP players Bob and Mike Bryan, the No. 5 tennis player in the world released a new song called Autograph. Thus far, the debut single has only sold 200 copies.

What's really paying off for the Australian Open and its players is betting. The Aussie Open is the only Grand Slam tournament sponsored by a gambling house, Betfair Australia. A portion of each wager with Betfair Australia placed on Sharapova, Murray, or any player at the event goes to Tennis Australia, the nonprofit federation that runs the Melbourne event. The arrangement is the highest-profile commercial link between betting and a sport continually investigating suspicious wagering.

If asked, Betfair Australia is required to reveal the identities of customers betting on matches and a record of their wagers to Tennis Australia. The agreement started in 2007, a year before the four Slams—the Australian, French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open—joined forced with the men's ATP and women's Sony Ericsson WTA tours and the International Tennis Federation to fight corruption after several gambling scandals came to light.

4. As the World Serves

Perhaps influenced by the college football Bowl Championship Series, two professional sports are independently reviewing proposals that would change the way they determine a "world champion."

First, players from the ATP World Tour are considering creating tennis' first World Cup—a biennial, 10-day tournament involving 32 countries. According to the Times of London, the "Grand Slam of Nations," as the event is tentatively called, would require shorter matches and compulsory mid-match substitutions.

The proposed event, the brainchild of Melbourne-based sports marketing agency Gemba, would be staged in late September or early October in Europe. The plan has been presented to top-ranked players on the ATP Players Council, the USTA, the All England Club, Tennis Australia, and the ATP's global television partners.

At risk is the Davis Cup, which a handful of top players including American Andy Roddick have already announced they'll forgo, owing to their already too-packed ATP schedules. Says Players Council member Novak Djokovic, who joins his council peers in backing the World Cup proposal, "The main point is that we are trying to make this sport improve and get better."

Meanwhile, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and the Japanese baseball commissioner are considering a global World Series. Under the proposed plan, the U.S. and Japanese champions would face each other at the end of their respective seasons. Ideally, Selig would like to see the game take place before he retires in 2012. (The World Baseball Classic will play its third iteration in 2013.)

Rick Horrow is a leading expert in the business of sports. As chief executive of Horrow Sports Ventures, he has been the architect of 103 deals worth more than $13 billion in sports and urban infrastructure projects. He is also the sports business analyst for CNN, Fox Sports, and the Fox Business Channel. Rick Horrow is a leading expert in the business of sports. As CEO of Horrow Sports Ventures, he has been the architect of 103 deals worth more than $13 billion in sports and other urban infrastructure projects. He is also the sports business analyst for CNN, Fox Sports, and the Fox Business Channel. Karla Swatek is vice-president of Horrow Sports Ventures and co-author of Beyond the Box Score: An Insider's Guide to the $750 Billion Business of Sports (February, 2010).