Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY

Charlotte city council approves funding for pro tennis complex, could poach tourney from Cincinnati

By Jason Clinkscales | Last updated 6/16/23

In another eventful moment for professional sports in the city of Charlotte, the city council approved taxpayer funding for a $400 million tennis complex that could host one of the premier tournaments in the United States.

As reported by David Rumsey of Front Office Sports, $65 million in public funding was approved for the development of a 14,000-seat stadium along with other smaller venues to form the full complex. Half of the total potential funding (around $200 million) will come from Beemok Capital, which owns the Western & Southern Open, also known as the Cincinnati Masters. The firm's owner Ben Navarro bought the tournament from the United States Tennis Association in 2022 with the likely aim of moving the event closer to his native South Carolina.

Renderings of the potential new facility have made the rounds for months.

Rendering of potential Charlotte tennis facility that could take over hosting the Cincinnati Masters 1000 event pic.twitter.com/5mKgpkvKL3
— Randy Walker (@TennisPublisher) May 11, 2023

The Western & Southern Open has taken place in Cincinnati or its suburbs in some form since 1899, with the exception of 2020 when it was played in New York prior to the US Open (which is hosted in New York) due to the need to limit travel at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It's not only the oldest tennis tournament in the country but it's arguably the most important non-Grand Slam event on the calendar as many players participate there as a warm-up to the US Open.

However, the lack of amusements that typically surround venues in other cities hasn't endeared players and out-of-town fans who visit the area for the matches. As told by Peter Bodo for Tennis.com:

Mason often confounded visiting players, especially those from foreign shores. They were shocked that there was no real city in the city of nearly 19 square miles, nor very much of interest to them amid a mix of cornfields, subdivisions, highway cloverleafs and drive-through restaurants. Anyone hoping to grab dinner near the tournament hotel after 9 p.m. had just one choice: a Waffle House sitting forlorn on a large expanse of empty parking lot. As one source for this story said, “Cincinnati is sleepy. Mason is really sleepy.”

Charlotte has had an eventful week in the sports business. In addition to the funding for this complex, ESPN reported on Friday that Michael Jordan agreed to sell his majority share of the Charlotte Hornets to Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall for an approximately $3 billion valuation.

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