The eighth edition of Laver Cup in San Francisco last month was the most successful of all. The event started in 2017 with six sponsors, now there are a total of 22 sponsors involved, including Rolex, Mercedes Benz, UBS.
An insider source said the event is “profitable” and so far in total has “written checks to players for over $50m” in the eight years.
For 2026 Laver Cup will return to London’s 02 Arena – the previously most successful of the competitions – and considering the positive growth and evolution of the production, it is on track to be the most profitable edition yet.
While everything is trending in the right direction, the actual on court performance has been somewhat of a disappointment compared to it’s golf model the Ryder Cup, Europe vs USA which is a natural rivalry compared to Europe vs World. The golf version of the two Cups generates much more energy and intensity and it’s the more raw and authentic sporting action to watch. As a long time tennis fan and player with zero background in golf, it’s hard to admit this truth.
The Ryder Cup is the most exciting event in golf – moreso than Masters or US Open – but Laver Cup is nowhere close to the best tennis tournament.
My belief is, tennis is the more entertaining and viewable sport than golf and if Laver Cup can find a way to tap into it’s advantages and tweak it’s format into a more compelling rivalry, it has the potential foundation to grow into the best event in tennis, as Ryder has done for golf.
But right now Laver Cup is not there and will need to make some revisions and adjustments to catch up to and then exceed Ryder Cup.
Laver Cup · Rod Laver · Roger Federer
Matt Segel · October 9, 2025 at 11:58 am
I think a five region event would be interesting. West Europe, East Europe, Oceania (Australia, Asia) north America, South America. Might tap into more intensity
Scoop Malinowski · October 9, 2025 at 12:31 pm
Down with that Matt, the current set up does not work. Then to round it out maybe add a sixth team of wildcard scavengers ranked outside top 250. Everybody loves an underdog ) I think it’s interesting to see which continent is the true tennis superpower – or is a diverse mix of “immigrant” players the best?