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Q&A | July 2025
Stuart Watts
Stuart Watts is a key figure in tennis broadcasting and serves as the COO of ATP Media.
Stuart Watts is a leading figure in global tennis media. As Chief Operating Officer of ATP Media for 16 years, he helped grow the company from a comparatively small five-person business to one of the sport industry’s most advanced media rights and production companies. With a career spanning roles at SKY, IMG, and the BBC, plus a Primetime Emmy-nominated documentary and Platinum selling live concert films, Stuart blends creative vision with executive leadership. Now, he reflects on his journey and what’s next.
Neil Edwards, Partner at McBride Sport, caught up with Stuart to discuss his career to date and what is next for him.
Can you talk us through your career to date?
I began my career at SKY in the early 90’s initially on the tennis coverage but then on the flagship production of the newly formed Premier League. After that I produced the weekly ATP tennis magazine show for IMG Media (formerly TWI) but I was inquisitive to experience other forms of content leaving TWI for the BBC as a director on their primetime show Holiday and then directing the series Shop ‘Til you Drop on Channel 4. In 1999, IMG Media asked me to join as a ‘Production and Development Executive’ to help set up their ‘non live division’ and oversee special production projects but it transpired that most of my tenure there was taken up producing and directing Christopher Reeve: Hope in Motion with Christopher’s son Matthew, which took three years to make and was nominated for a Primetime EMMY and won the Communicator Award for Excellence in Journalism.
This provided the platform to set up my own production company at Shepperton Studios. Working with mainly EMI and Universal we produced global selling documentaries on, among others, John Lennon (narrated by Sir Gary Oldman), Andrea Bocelli (narrated by Sir Jonathan Pryce), Paul Weller and Keep on Running: 50 years of Island Records (narrated by Damian Lewis). In time, live concert production became an extension of the business. Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds: LIVE went platinum on DVD and Jeff Beck Performing Live this week at Ronnie Scott’s with guest Eric Clapton won a GRAMMY for Jeff’s performance.
Having sold my production company, I set up a consultancy. ATP Media were a client and, after a year, I was asked to join and help build the Company. 16 years later and, as the Chief Operating Officer, I’m proud of taking the company (along with my colleagues) from 5 to over 120 staff, increasing revenue significantly with substantial growth and building one of the most sophisticated media rights and production companies in the sports industry. Highlights were building our global streaming service Tennis TV, negotiating major rights deals especially the groundbreaking Amazon deal, setting up our state of the art remote production hub, ATP Media Studios and just generally leading the strategic direction of the company with the CEO and building the company from the ground up.
How did you find the transition into an exec role within the sports industry?
It somewhat depends on what type of executive you are and what responsibility you have in that role. At IMG Media, I found it a reasonably effortless transition but when I was Managing Director of my own Company, that’s where the real learning came in. I think a lot of executives in the industry who have not run their own company have missed a fundamental and crucial part of their education. Having your own money at stake, watching every penny, focusses your decision making, hardens you to the actual business side of the industry and teaches you the need to make incredibly tough choices. I took these lessons into my COO role at ATP Media. I would also say that the CEO at ATP Media, Mark Webster was a superb mentor and friend to me along with supportive shareholders which helped my progression and understanding.
ATP Media - tell us about its rapid expansion. What was behind it?
Well, it was partly to do with the increase of rights we represented, the increase in the amount of production required (we produce over 5,500 hours of live coverage annually!), natural company growth due to successful commercial results coupled with a strategy to control as much as possible in-house and the investment which goes with that strategic direction.
The rapid expansion also required change in governance whereby the shareholders created an ATP Media Board of Directors to allow for a more nimble and practical approach to running the Company. To sit as a director of the Company was invaluable as building ATP Media was the most interesting part of the role. Apart from the obvious foundational capabilities such as finance, legal, IT and people & culture functions we added our own internal commercial, consumer streaming, live production (with our remote hub, ATP Media Studios), non-live content production, Insights (via data analytics) and technology divisions. This reduces third party costs and commissions and allows for a more cohesive approach to achieve the results we collectively are striving for whilst ensuring the quality we are known for.
It is also important to recognise limitations and strategic beneficial alliances. For example, where we felt it was advantageous to maximise the potential of data, which was not part of our core expertise, we established Tennis Data Innovations (TDI) in 2020 as an independent joint venture between ATP and ATP Media, to manage and commercialise data across a variety of global markets, including betting, media and performance.
In a fast-paced and expanding business like that, how have you evolved your leadership style to adapt to that change in business?
To try and keep things simple, which is not always easy! I have learnt to not get sidetracked by constant industry ‘noise’ but focus on achieving results with ever increasing efficiency. At the end of the day, we are there to maximise profits for the shareholders, we are a commercial entity.
In saying that, the transformative times we find ourselves in demands flexibility, constant monitoring of strategy and an open mind. The balance between achieving continued growth now and future proofing the business is a fine one.
Overall, I think the basics of good management still stand and, in some way, are even more important in such unsettling times, namely creating a solid company structure, strong leadership, excellent communication, building consensus to achieve alignment, fostering industry relationships, development of people, etc.
I have also learnt to delegate more. You realise that you need good people with the correct expertise around you. You agree KPI’s with your management that are passed down through the Company and support, monitor and work closely with your team to achieve them.
What were your non-negotiables for the way ATP Media operates?
From the outset, the culture of ATP Media has been extremely important. We wanted to build and nurture a working environment centred around collaboration, inclusiveness, alignment of goals and mutual recognition in achieving them. Investment in people is a given. The office is situated on one open plan floor for a reason.
If we are talking about business rather than culture then one nonnegotiable would be our multi award winning streaming service, Tennis TV existing in every territory in the world, which it does. A broadcaster can negotiate to buy our rights in their given territory but Tennis TV will exist in that territory. Having our OTT service available globally, especially in this transformative media landscape, is the right strategic plan.
We would also never accept a derisory sum for our rights in a given territory. Once you accept such an offer it can be a long road back to getting the proper value for them in the next rights cycle. We would rather go dark in that territory and, of course, we always have our streaming platform Tennis TV as a channel to monetise our rights within dark markets.
What advice would you give to somebody getting ahead in, or looking to get ahead in sport business now?
Be honest and act with integrity. It does get noticed! Don’t wait for opportunities to come to you – if you see an opportunity make it happen. Go and ask, ‘Can I do this?’ or ‘Can I help with that?’. Be willing to listen and learn. Observe everything you can, take opportunities and work hard. The one common thread which I have noticed leads to success is work ethic. There are a lot of talented people out there but I’ve never seen anybody who consistently works hard fail; many of my friends in the industry, who started out on the bottom rung, now hold senior positions because of this attribute. The best advice I ever had was ‘work hard and be yourself, don’t try and be what you are not, as being you is good enough’.
Be honest and act with integrity. It does get noticed! Don’t wait for opportunities to come to you – if you see an opportunity make it happen.
What challenges and opportunities lie ahead for the sector over the next five years.
As we are all too well aware, the sports media landscape has been undergoing significant transformation over some time now, driven by technological advancements and evolving fan behaviour, shifting towards digital platforms, personalized experiences, and increased focus on directto-consumer models and this trend will continue.
Consolidation in the industry will also continue as an inevitable part of this transformation leading to even more mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances in the industry and an increasingly hybrid approach to maximising rights sales, blurring the lines between traditional media and digital platforms. Everyone is trying to work out how to maximise the value of their assets but there is not one clear solution but a number of solutions depending on many factors. Just recently you can see major broadcasters and streamers partner to expand reach and adapt to shifting viewer habits. RTL’s Sky deal boosts regional sports strength, DAZN’s free Club World Cup coverage targets global growth, and Netflix’s TF1 tie-up blends local linear TV with streaming. Together, they highlight a trend toward consolidation, hybrid models, and deeper audience engagement.
Technology is at a fascinating stage. Complete digital ecosystems which are scalable, offer a complete workflow and are cost efficient will win the day. The industry is looking more and more to Integrated modular systems that can be utilised across streaming platforms not just linear only sports broadcasts. Again, technology needs to offer solutions to meet the demands of the new marketplace, where maximising commercial assets requires flexibility.
The importance of data, AI and the servicing of digital sponsorship and branding contracts will grow exponentially by 2030. With AI, the hard task will be disseminating what actually adds value to your business and is really transformative to your bottom line or fan engagement.
After all the success you’ve had with ATP Media, what does the future hold for you?
In truth, I was completely burnt out after 16 years at the helm which is why I decided to step down as COO, so I am taking my time to decide on my next move as it has to be right. I’m still currently Special Advisor to the CEO of ATP Media but that will probably stop shortly. I would like to think I could advise on building a rights, media or sports company who are either at the outset of their journey or who have reached a certain stage and need advice on the next phase. Perhaps advising private equity companies or maybe a non-executive role would work. I’m entrepreneurial in spirit so we shall see.
If you can give your 25 year old self any advice knowing what you know now, what would it be?
To have a bit more balance in my life. I’m natural competitive and ambitious, so achieving the next career goal was all consuming without any regard for my health or outside interests. Most importantly, it was probably at the cost of some family life, so I think I would spend more time with my wife and daughters if I had my time again.
