Tennis Australia became eligible for payments from the Federal Government’s JobKeeper program due to a reduction of revenue caused by this year's lockdown measures across Australia.“JobKeeper eligibility was assessed and funds were received on the basis of a reduction in turnover mainly attributable to the closure of customer facing tennis facilities around the country,” said the 2020 annual report.
Revenue for last year, including the 2020 Australian Open unaffected by the global pandemic, surged to $456 million but TA is bracing for a drop on several fronts this summer, as well as the growing costs due to having to roll out stringent quarantine measures. “The group will most likely introduce external funding in the form of a line of credit to cover the significant costs that have arisen as part of the COVID-19 response to meeting quarantine and bio-security measures for AO2021” said the report.“The funding is considered a medium term liquidity measure and will assist with the retention of an adequate level of cash reserves that will be required to support the recovery of our sport post COVID-19.