Betting sponsorships have suddenly started to become more prominent among tennis tournaments. Most recently, the US Open came under scrutiny for announcing a partnership with Kalshi as their official betting partner. The majority of fans are against such partnerships and aren’t shy about showing their disapproval either. Seeing the feedback, both the WTA and ATP have introduced new rules for the 2027 season that will benefit players who participate in tournaments with betting sponsorships.

According to the new measures, betting sponsors and tournaments benefiting from them will be required to contribute to mitigating the risks to player safety, health, and welfare presented by sports betting. They will be contributing 10% of the applicable contract amount to player welfare and benefit programs. The contribution remains 5% for combined events.

These new programs and initiatives will also address the abuse that some players have to face regularly on social media and the growing problem of gambling in tennis. The introduction of these measures shows that both the ATP and WTA don’t see the betting sponsorships as something normal. Multiple prominent tournaments have already signed deals with their official betting partners, and the numbers are expected to increase in the near future.

For context, the Davis Cup has launched a partnership with Betsson as its official sports betting partner. The same platform also sponsors the Nordic Open. Additionally, Betway has partnered with both the Miami and Madrid Open. Most notably, the ATP Tour also has a deal with prediction market platform Polymarket.

The betting sponsorships have been seen in a negative light by fans ever since they were introduced. But the controversy took center stage at this year’s US Open when it was announced that the Grand Slam was partnering with Kalshi. It is a platform where individuals can trade directly on the outcomes of real-world events that will take place in the future. They reportedly benefit from collecting insider information, which is an illegal practice.

Now, tennis is a sport where match-fixing is still common at lower levels. It is betting sponsors like these that promote such corrupt and illegal practices. It may even benefit bettors, who regularly gamble on tennis matches. Though Kalshi has employed strict monitoring safeguards to prevent outcome manipulation, there is always a risk of bettors lurking on the platform.

This is why the move didn’t quite go over well with the tennis community, with fans and journalists alike criticizing the US Open over such a decision. Notably, it is the only Grand Slam that has struck a deal with a betting partner, making the backlash even more intense. Tennis journalist Jon Wertheim was one of the biggest critics of the partnership.

Jon Wertheim brutally called out the US Open over their partnership with Kalshi

Wertheim described the partnership as “disappointing” and stated that this is not a positive move at all on the tournament’s part.

“This is *such* a disappointing decision, @usopen,” he wrote on X. “Not a week goes by when the tennis’ Integrity unit – that you help fund – fails to announce a match-fixing scandal…and you take sponsorship $ from a platform predicated on profiting from inside information? No way to spin this as a positive.”

Wertheim’s argument does make sense as a number of players have been handed suspensions for match-fixing this year. This includes Mila Masic, who was handed a $20,000 fine and suspended for four years and ten months for fixing four of her own matches.

The second player who was sanctioned was Jana Vanik. She didn’t respond to ITIA’s match-fixing investigation and was banned for a year and four months as a result. Another figure to be sanctioned was Kazakh official Assylbek Kassym. The national-level tennis official was handed a suspension for one year and was fined $10,000 on charges of non-cooperation with the investigation.