Deep Dive Into the APTA Tour (Presented by REMEDY+)

February 23, 2023

With the APTA Tour finishing up its second season in a few weeks at Nationals in Chicago, we wanted to give members a quick refresher on why the APTA Tour was formed, how it’s evolving, and how venues get selected to be on the Tour.

While there are now hundreds of tournaments run each season, the majority of which are geared towards league players (PTI, Masters, and Open tournaments), the APTA Tour is a series of about a dozen tournaments geared towards the best players in the country. Bringing the top players together for tournaments showcases their abilities and achievements. The APTA streams these events for our membership, generating excitement for the game, offering a great educational tool, and creating a video library and archive of our sport.

THE EVOLUTION
The APTA Tour was formed two seasons ago, built off the prior Grand Prix/NRT structure with several critical changes.

Number of Tournaments -  We reduced the number of Grand Prix events from five to four (two in the Midwest, two on the East Coast) and elevated six to eight NRTs to APTA Tour status.

Application Process - To be on the Tour, tournament directors must complete a Request for Proposal (RFP) that is sent out to all Tournament Directors at the beginning of March and is due back to the APTA Tour Selection Committee by April 1st.

Draw Sizes - After experimenting with smaller draw sizes (partly driven by Covid), Grand Prix events are now required to have a minimum draw size of 32. In addition, where there is likely to be demand, Grand Prix events are expected to be able to either have draws larger than 32 or host an additional Open draw for those that don’t qualify for the Grand Prix draw.

Prize Money -  In order to be a Grand Prix event, a minimum amount of prize money must be awarded (likely $15,000-20,000, based on the amounts raised this past season). In addition, this past season every non-Grand Prix APTA Tour event raised a minimum of $5,000 in prize money.

APTA Cup - In conjunction with the formation of the APTA Tour, the APTA established the APTA Cup (similar to the FedEx Cup in golf). The APTA Cup consists of $40,000 in prize money paid out at the end of the season to the top four men and top four women based on their best six results at Tour events during the season, with Nationals weighted 4x and Grand Prix events weighted 2x as regular Tour events. The purpose of the Cup is to encourage the top players to participate in as many of the Tour events, and especially the Grand Prix events, as possible.
(Note: the APTA Board, as a policy, only approves the APTA Cup prize money if the APTA has raised a commensurate amount in sponsorship dollars)

National Ranking Points - All Grand Prix events now have the same scale/weighting of 4.25 for NRT points. Prior to the APTA Tour, Grand Prix weightings were based on the strength of the draw (with a minimum/floor).

Live Streaming - Prior to the APTA Tour, six events were streamed per season—the five GPs and Nationals. Our goal now is to stream as many APTA Tour events as possible.

THE FUTURE OF THE APTA TOUR
While the Tour is still fairly new, we are very encouraged after the first two seasons.

Tournament Experience - The quality of the events from both a player and fan perspective is improving each season. We expect the number of RFPs and the quality of RFPs for next season’s events will continue to rise.

Prize Money - As tournament directors and venues continue to compete to host Tour and Grand Prix events, we expect the amount of prize money raised at the local level to increase. In total on the APTA Tour this season, the amount of prize money raised locally (by sponsors and local league support) totaled $157,000, up from just under $100,000 the first season of the Tour.

Live Streaming - The number of matches the APTA now streams for its members has gone up more than 3x since the start of the APTA Tour, from 50 matches per season to over 150 matches per season. That number is driven by streaming as many Tour events as possible—12 events this season versus 6 events prior to the Tour—as well as by streaming two courts simultaneously at many Tour events.

Sponsorship - We are thrilled and thankful to have welcomed Remedy+ as the presenting sponsor of the APTA Tour. We look forward to our continued partnership with Remedy+ next season and encourage other potential sponsors to consider supporting our exciting and growing APTA Tour.