ATP Cleared by Jury in Antitrust Case Over Tennis Tour Schedule

The downgrading of the Hamburg Masters tournament by the Association of Tennis Professionals, the governing body of men’s professional tennis, didn’t violate laws against monopolies, a U.S. jury decided. The panel in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, deliberated about nine hours after a two-week trial before making the ruling yesterday. The German Tennis Federation had sought about $76 million in damages.

On behalf of ATP, we’re terrifically gratified by the decision,” attorney Brad Ruskin said after the verdict. He argued to the jury that directors acted “reasonably and responsibly” to improve the tour, and that the dispute isn’t an antitrust issue. The German federation sued ATP in March 2007 contending the group’s so-called Brave New World restructuring plan reduced Hamburg’s master’s tournament status, was anticompetitive and violated U.S. antitrust law.

Ruskin told jurors the federation knew that as part of a contract, it had agreed such decisions were within ATP’s authority. Lawyer Robert MacGill, representing the federation, declined to comment after the verdict. He told jurors during the trial that the downgrade signaled “the end of tennis in Hamburg,” site of a $45 million, 13,500-seat stadium.

`Hysterical’ Juror

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Gregory Sleet, supervising the trial, dismissed one of the eight jurors after saying she became “hysterical” in the jury room yesterday and didn’t want to work with other members of the panel. The ATP plan moves the Hamburg tournament from the highest level to a second-tier and moves the event to July from May. The tournament’s May schedule was the last major warm-up for the French Open.

Players in Masters series can earn more world-ranking points than in regular tournaments, though not as many as Grand Slam events, such as Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the French tournament. Etienne de Villiers, president of ATP, announced plans last year to restructure the men’s calendar to reduce injuries and ensure top players take part in the most prestigious events.

The 2009 calendar would have three tiers of ATP tournaments: the Masters Cup and Masters Series 1000, the Masters Series 500 and the ATP 250. There would be eight Masters Series tournaments instead of the current nine. Hamburg as a Masters Series 500 would still be ranked in the top 20 events, ATP’s Ruskin said.

Brave New World

German organizers alleged ATP directors voted to approve the Brave New World plan after a series of backdoor deals that transferred Hamburg’s membership rights to Shanghai and gave Hamburg’s current tournament slot to Madrid. ATP was paid more than $29 million by Shanghai and about $32 million by people in London who bought Shanghai’s rights to the Tennis Masters Cup in 2009, MacGill told the jury. Gary Kleinrichert, a damage expert for the German organizers, testified during the trial that current value of the investment in the Hamburg facility is about $31 million. The value of Hamburg’s membership is roughly $45.6 million, bringing total estimated potential damages to about $76 million.

ATP lawyers had argued that Hamburg’s membership value is much less based on a sale of 25 percent of the tournament to Qatar Tennis Federation. Qatar, which was a party to the lawsuit against ATP, bought the minority interest in 2005 for about 3 million euros, Ruskin said. The case is Deutscher Tennis Bund v. ATP Tour Inc., 07-cv-00178, U.S. District Court, Delaware (Wilmington).

Phil Milford and Sophia Pearson, Bloomberg.com