Emma Raducanu warned she risks losing £9m in lucrative tennis sponsorship deals

Posted by Admin December 10, 2024 Tennis

Emma Raducanu is still waiting to land her second trophy on the WTA Tour (Picture: Getty)

British tennis star Emma Raducanu is at risk of losing her £9m portfolio of sponsorship deals, according to sports finance expert Dr Rob Wilson.

The 22-year-old teamed up with a number of global brands after she incredibly won the US Open major singles title as a qualifier in 2021.

Over three years later, though, Raducanu still hasn’t registered a second trophy anywhere on the WTA Tour – with injury problems massively hampering her 2022 and 2023 seasons – before a rebuilding year in 2024.

Despite her struggles, British No.2 Raducanu was the seventh highest-paid female athlete in the world in 2024 thanks to her endorsements deals with Dior, Porsche, Tiffany, British Airways, Vodafone and Evian.

Raducanu earned a total of £11m this year, Sportico have reported, with a large majority of that, £9m, coming from her lucrative sponsorships.

But those funds could dry up in 2025 – despite Raducanu reaching a number of WTA Tour quarter-finals this year – sports finance expert Wilson has warned.

‘If she doesn’t start winning games, if she doesn’t go deep into tournaments, she is going to really struggle to renegotiate or renew any of those commercial endorsements and the career could be over pretty much in its infancy,’ he told OLGB.

Emma Raducanu is a global brand ambassador for Porsche (Picture: Getty)

‘[It] would be a crying shame because she’s a hugely talented individual and hugely marketable as well.’

It was reported earlier this year that Raducanu’s endorsement deal with Porsche was under threat, but those rumours turned out to be untrue.

Emma Raducanu’s £9m portfolio of sponsorship deals

Vodafone – £3m
Tiffany & Co – £2m
Dior – £2m
British Airways – £1m
Nike – £100,000
Wilson – £100,000
Porsche – Unknown
HSBC – Unknown
Evian – Unknown
Sports Direct – Unknown

Meanwhile, Mark Petchey, Andy Murray’s former coach and tennis commentator, believes Raducanu may have ‘an opportunity to challenge’ for the 2025 Australian Open title next month.

‘I’ll never limit her potential,’ Petchey told Betway about Raducanu, who is currently ranked world No.57 but held the world No.10 spot in 2022.

‘All I know is that if she’s been healthy and she’s got enough matches under her belt heading into Australia and she gets a favourable draw she’ll have an opportunity to challenge for the title.’

The first Grand Slam tournament of the year gets underway on January 12 at Melbourne Park.

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