Former world No. 4 Caroline Garcia reveals why she turned down huge sponsorship offer
NewsSunday, 07 December 2025 at 19:56
Caroline Garcia revealed that she made a difficult decision to turn down a huge sponsorship offer for her podcast.
Garcia ended her professional tennis career on the WTA Tour on August 25th, 2025, when she lost in the opening round of the US Open to Kamilla Rakhimova. The 24-year-old Russian-born player, who now represents Uzbekistan, beat Garcia 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
The 32-year-old Frenchwoman had a successful career, reaching the WTA world No. 4 rank in singles and No. 2 in doubles. She reached the 2022 US Open semi-finals in singles and won two French Open doubles titles, both with Kristina Mladenovic. Garcia is also the 2022 WTA Finals champion.
Already during her playing career, Garcia started her own Tennis Insider Club podcast. She has interviewed quite a few of her former colleagues already, and her podcast always generates plenty of attention.
As an active player, Garcia couldn't be sponsored by a betting company, as that's against the rules for tennis players. However, one of the bookmakers used the chance shortly after her retirement, approaching the former player with a sponsorship for her podcast.
Garcia revealed this in a social media post. She admitted that she was offered $270,000 for a sponsorship from an unnamed betting company, something she declined because of the threats that tennis players face because of betting.
"Today we turned down a $270,000 sponsorship offer from a betting company for our podcast. It’s a huge amount of money, especially for an independent sports show and for me, someone who just retired from pro tennis. But here is why we said no."
"Over the past two years of interviewing players, coaches, agents, and parents, one theme keeps coming back again and again: betting has become one of the biggest sources of pressure, abuse, and hate in modern sport. Every player, from Top 10 stars to ITF grinders, has stories. DMs full of insults after a match. People demanding money back because they lost a bet. Even death threats. Not because of sport. Because of gambling."
"I do not want Tennis Insider Club to contribute, even indirectly, to a system that fuels addiction, destroys lives, and turns athletes into daily targets. Betting companies spend millions on sponsorships because it works. It shifts attention. It shapes behavior. It normalizes gambling. But we do not want our community pushed in that direction."
"This is not a moral crusade. I am not judging anyone who bets casually, or athletes who accept betting sponsors. I am simply choosing what we want to stand for, and what we do not want to amplify. Our mission is to tell real stories from inside tennis, inspire people, and grow the sport in a way that is healthy for athletes and fans. Taking betting money would move us in the opposite direction."
"And if we expect athletes to trust us enough to be vulnerable on the podcast, to share their fears, doubts, and mental health battles, then we need to show them that we choose values over money. $270k is a lot. But building something long-term, honest, and good for the sport is worth more."
"We will find partners who believe in that vision, who want to grow with us, not exploit the pressure athletes already face. Thank you for supporting what we are building. We are just getting started. And we are doing it the right way."
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