I want to use this article to reflect on the situation regarding "digital" transformation within tennis.  Inspired by the words of the new president of the ATP, Andrea Gaudenzi, in which he said that one of the challenges of his mandate is to accelerate the digital transformation.

During these last 10 years of global technological transformation or “digitalization“, tennis has benefited and been a part of it, but has it been a total transformation, covering all the areas of this sport? Have you managed to make tennis fans more involved in “their” passion?  Let's talk about different parts.

 It is true that we have advanced a lot, APPs have been launched to improve training, video analysis has been incorporated on the courts, the hawk eye has revolutionized professional tennis and swung some titles to one side or the other and it has incorporated racket connectivity, etc.  But many will be with me that much remains to be done, one of the “unexplored” and most serious areas is the financing, we are still obsolete in: the development of young talent, new tournaments financing channels and creating greater connection with the tennis community, etc.  Probably, the technology was not ready until the emergence of Blockchain: transparency, traceability, utility of digital currencies, creation of smart contracts, etc.

Until today a developing young talent only had a closed box to finance his career: family environment, patronage if they are lucky, federations if their ranking accompanies them and little else, especially since the sponsors increasingly bet on more consolidated athletes, with greater visibility and return on investment.

 On the other hand, we have 800 million fans in the world who enjoy tennis passively: ticketing, pay TV, merchandising, products of the brands of the athletes, ¿etc ... Why not make these fans an active part?  Imagine that they are part of the athlete’s career, with their successes, their defeats, their good and bad moments, ¡but also of their future income!  Yes, it is already possible to turn that closed box into an open box, bringing millions of fans to these young talents, and it is called GLOBATALENT, the first Exchange in the sports world that connects tennis players with fans so they can step forward and be an active part of the career of your athletes.

 It's time to break down borders, eliminate taboos …… it's time to:

• Be an active part of the sport.
• Support young athletes and be a part of their career.
• Create fan communities beyond a simple "like" to a post.
• Share and return to the sport, through foundational projects funded by the fans themselves.
• Create a more sustainable model supported by technology.

article written by Iñaki Cabrera , Globatalent Co-Founder

 Southern Vice President of Europe for Wilson Racquets Sports. Iñaki has more than 30 years of experience in the sports industry working for brands such as Quiksilver, Adidas etc.

He currently works for the Amer group promoting and developing tennis industry.