Western and Southern Open tennis tournament spurns Charlotte, will stay in Cincinnati area

Charlotte has missed out on bringing a major tennis tournament to town and, with it, a massive economic development project in the River District.

The Western and Southern Open will remain in its current home in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area, according to a video posted by the tournament Tuesday morning.

“Your wonderful tournament is staying in Cincinnati, and it’s going to be bigger and better forever,” 2023 tournament champions Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff say in the video.

Beemok, a South Carolina-based company that owns the tournament, had considered for months moving it to Charlotte as part of “Project Breakpoint,” which called for the creation of a $400 million tennis complex in the city’s River District, funded in part by public money. A continued increase in the costs to build a complex in Charlotte’s proposed River District was too much for Beemok, the city of Charlotte said in a statement.

Charlotte City Councilman Malcolm Graham, an avid tennis player and leading advocate for the project, said he doesn’t “see a path forward” for the complex “without a corresponding tournament to go with it.” Graham said he learned of the decision Tuesday on a call with Beemok founder Ben Navarro and said he was “extremely disappointed” with the decision.

“The city, the region did everything that was requested of us to do if we were interested in luring the tournament to Charlotte,” he said.

The tournament was estimated an estimated annual economic impact of $275 million and bring 60 full-time, year-round jobs with an average salary of $60,000 to $85,000 to Charlotte, Mecklenburg County officials said previously.

In a statement, Navarro said it “was a very difficult decision” to keep the tournament in Ohio.

“The leaders in Charlotte and the state have been incredible partners as we’ve evaluated our options ... We are deeply appreciative of the time, energy and resources that were invested alongside us,” he said. “We have strong ties to the area and will look for ways to invest in the community and local tennis development in the future.”

What was Project Breakpoint?

Beemok’s proposal — first presented in May at a meeting of the Joint City and County Economic Development Committee — included more than just moving the Western and Southern Open to Charlotte.

Breakpoint also called for the construction of a complex that would contain four “major stadiums,” according to a July presentation to the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners.

The stadiums would’ve included a 14,000-seat center court; more than 40 hard, clay and indoor tennis courts; an indoor pickleball facility; four outdoor pickleball courts; and a 45,000-square-foot “player/academy building,”

The plan also included a park, an amphitheater and “greenway trail connectivity.”

Moving forward, Graham said he’s uncertain what’s next on the site.

“If there’s no tournament, we don’t need a complex that big,” he said. “It’s not like we can go out and get another (tournament) of that size ... And so, obviously, those decisions are gonna be made, but I don’t see a path forward with building a facility without a corresponding tournament to go with it.”

Beemok acquired the rights to the Western and Southern Open from the United States Tennis Association in 2022.

The company was founded by Charleston-based businessman and philanthropist Ben Navarro, who is no stranger to sports in the Carolina. He previously bid to buy the Carolina Panthers and bought the Volvo Car Open tennis tournament, held in South Carolina.

He moved his Sherman Financial Group to Charleston in 2004, the Post and Courier reported previously, and founded Meeting Street Schools alongside his wife.

The fight for the Western and Southern Open

Beemok’s proposal to move lured both cities and the states of North Carolina and Ohio into offering tens of millions of dollars as incentives.

The city of Charlotte said in a statement it was “disappointed” in the decision and thanked city, county and state leaders for rounding up funding to try to land the tournament.

“Ultimately this was not about the public support in Charlotte but reflects current economics,” the statement said. “According to a letter received from Beemok their ‘decision to stay was multi-faceted, but the consistent escalation of costs to construct a facility of this scale proved to be too much.’”

The Charlotte City Council in June approved spending up to $65 million to help entice Beemok to follow through on its proposal. In July, the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners approved spending an additional up to $30 million on the project.

And North Carolina’s recently passed stage budget allocated $20 million over two years for the project.

In its initial presentation, Beemok said it wanted the city, county and state to chip in for a third of the $400 million total cost for the project.

Tuesday’s video announcing the tournament wouldn’t move said more than $200 million would be invested in stadium improvements in Ohio.

The tournament in 2025 will “expand in size and duration, extending from nine to 12 days and growing the single player draw from 56 to 96 players, making it an even more significant date on the tennis calendar,” Beemok said in its Tuesday statement.

Impact on Charlotte sports scene

Advocates for Project Breakpoint said during the lobbying process they felt bringing the Western and Southern Open to Charlotte would help cement its status as “a sports town” on the national and international stage.

“Peer cities like Paris, Rome, Shanghai, Montreal, Miami, all hold these types of tournaments, and so this is a unique opportunity for our community,” Graham said previously.

Longtime Charlotte tennis coach Calvin Davis spoke in favor of the project at a July county commission meeting.

“We are hungry for people who are entrepreneurs of this caliber,” he said of the team behind Breakpoint.