Murray’s Sponsor Seeing Profits Drop

Written by: Staff on 6th November 2011

Murray’s Sponsor Seeing Profits Drop

Andy Murray of Great Britain returns the ball against Rafael Nadal of Spain during the finals of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo, Japan, 09 October 2011. Murray won 3-6, 6-2, 6-0. EPA/EVERETT KENNEDY BROWN |

The bank that bankrolls Andy Murray has taken a big financial hit in its latest numbers. The outlook Royal Bank of Scotland, which suffered badly in the through the first round of the global financial crisis in 2008 seems to have only gotten worse, with the Murray money handlers turning in another poor performance for the market.

Officials reported that RBS profits dived 63 percent in the 2011 third quarter at Britain’s biggest bank to total $428 million instead of a nearly $150 million more which had been anticipated by the markets.

The current loss may not bode well for the personal contract the Scottish world No. 3 holds with the bank. Murray, who previous contract was said to be $3.2 million per year, received an extension last summer. He also survived a round of cuts in sponsorship in 2009, which saw RBS cut back on motor racing and other sporting activities after spending $320 million per annum on them in the good old days.

RBS almost went to the wall in 2008, receiving the largest bailout in British history totaling $72 billion. Now the government fears that another cash infusion might be looming. If so, then the Murray sponsorship might truly come well down the list of burning priorities.

If RBS were to pull the plug down the road – the British economy is certainly not looking chipper and cheerful these gloomy days – Murray would be unlikely to feel the pain in his Surrey mansion south of London.

The 24-year-old has topped $17 million in prize money, helped in no small part by his three title paydays last month in Asia, where he won three events in as many weeks including the Shanghai Masters to collect in excess of $1 million (before tax) in October.

“DAILY TENNIS NEWS WIRE”