Kosmos, the sports and media investment group founded by Spanish soccer star Gerard Piqué, and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) governing body, have settled their dispute over the ITF ending its highly-lucrative, 25-year, Davis Cup contract early, in 2023.
An ITF statement claims that the two entities have “reached an amicable resolution regarding their previous contractual disagreements related to the organization of the Davis Cup.” The release ended with the ITF clarifying that “both organizations wish each other success in their future projects.”
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The ITF struck its original deal with Kosmos in 2018 to revamp the Davis Cup – its ailing men’s national teams tournament – with Kosmos pledging to invest $120 million per year into the tournament and $25 million per year into tennis development globally.
The agreement saw Kosmos take over commercial rights to the Davis Cup Finals, including organizing host cities, sponsorship, and broadcast agreements, as well as guaranteeing the prize for players.
However, after largely failing to deliver on its promises to elevate the Davis Cup to a premier event on the global tennis calendar, the ITF then announced its deal had ended prematurely in January 2023.
It was widely reported at that point that Kosmos had failed to pay an annual fee of €40 million ($43.5 million) to the ITF and had requested to renegotiate the amount due to low profitability. After the ITF subsequently refused, Kosmos terminated its contract.
Kosmos then filed a lawsuit at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), accusing the ITF of an “unjustified termination” of the contract, with the sports and media investment group claiming damages.
The ITF, meanwhile, was also preparing legal action against Kosmos at the time for having broken its contract and for “accumulated debts and damages, and damages for the poor image given off by the end of said agreement.”
The last three editions of the Davis Cup that Kosmos presided over were dogged by issues, including low attendance, scheduling difficulties, and top players choosing to skip the event.
Kosmos’ original decision to revamp the tournament's format in 2019 had also come under fire from fans and players, including legend Roger Federer and former world number one Lleyton Hewitt, who felt that the move away from the home-and-away ties destroyed the essence of the tournament.
Kosmos had replaced the traditional format with just one home-and-away round of ties, followed by 18 teams competing in one city for a week-long, season-ending tournament.
This settlement and truce between the two parties follows last week’s announcement that the ITF’s chief executive Kelly Fairweather is set to leave his role at the end of August 2025.
Fairweather joined the ITF as chief operating officer in January 2017, and was then promoted to chief executive in January 2022, a new position at the time.
The recruitment process for the Federation’s new chief executive is currently underway, with Fairweather set to assist ITF president David Haggerty and the ITF board to ensure a smooth transition for his successor.
