Miami Open 2021 Drastically Cuts Down Its Prize Money

The tennis world is slowly jumping back on its feet. The coronavirus pandemic troubled players and tournaments, and they are still recovering from the losses. ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 tournament, Miami Open, will return to the tennis calendar after its absence in 2020. But now, as the tournament nears, many facts and figures about Miami Open 2021 are being released like the capacity and more importantly the prize money.

Miami Open holds a great value on the tennis calendar. It is a historic event and along with Indian Wells forms the ‘Sunshine Double’. Miami Open is also one of the richest tennis tournaments apart from the Grand Slams. But the pandemic has taken a toll on it, leading to losses. To recover some of those losses, the organizers have now significantly reduced the prize money at the event.

In its previous edition in 2019, the total prize money was $16.7 million, but now in 2021, that figure has drastically come down to $3.34 million. Furthermore, the winners will take home only $300,110 instead of the whopping $1.354 million awarded in 2019.

Why has Miami Open 2021 reduced its prize money?

A multitude of reasons have resulted in this drastic drop in the prize money. First, the cancelation of the event in 2020 hurt the cash reserves and the various stakeholders of the tournament, resulting in grave financial implications. Furthermore, Miami Open 2021 will be held with limited fans.

A major chunk of any tournament’s revenue comes from on-site spectators. And this year, Miami Open expects only 20 percent of fans in the stadium. So that revenue stream is too less to sustain the event.

A major positive change in tennis tournaments was the increase in the prize money for first-round losers. This was done to help the lower-ranked players get more prize money to sustain themselves in these difficult times. At Miami Open the trend has continued, the first-round prize money has gone up from $8,775 to $10,000.

The Miami Open is scheduled to begin on March 22nd and extend till April 4th.

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