How to Improve the Six Kings Slam: $13.5M Tennis Tournament in Saudi Arabia on Netflix
Although I enjoyed the final between Sinner x Alcaraz... and the winner's payday mogged ($6 mil), the "Six Kings Slam" needs major refinement and broadcast/production changes.
The Saudi Aramco Oil sheik mafia put together its second annual “Six Kings Slam” tennis tournament broadcast on Netflix, hosted in Riyadh.
Last year in 2024 the tournament featured Sinner, Alcaraz, Djokovic, Medvedev, Rune, and Nadal…. and Sinner took the $6 million prize… it was NOT on Netflix in 2024 (was broadcast on DAZN and TNT).
This year (2025) it was on Netflix… and although the production was mostly terrible, it was still fun to watch because you had 5 of the top 6 men’s players competing. If you missed it you can check out the replay on Netflix.
No woke bullshit, just: (A) the top 6 men’s tennis players they could recruit… (with the exception of Tsitsipas) AND (B) the highest payday of any tennis tournament in 2025 for the winner… outdoing U.S. Open, Wimby, French, and Aussie Open.
Six Kings Slam 2025 – Prize Money
The Six Kings Slam 2025 set a new record for the largest prize pool in tennis history, with a total purse of $13.5 million.
All of the “6 kings” got a cool $1.5 mil each just for showing up, lacing up their kicks, smiling with some Saudi kids, and signing some tennis balls.
💰 Prize Money Structure
Champion: $6 million total ($1.5M appearance fee + $4.5M for the winner)
All other players: $1.5 million flat appearance fee
There were no round-by-round payments—the payout was identical for every player except the winner.
Six Kings Slam champion: $6 million
2025 US Open champion: $5 million
2025 Wimbledon champion: $4 million
2025 French Open champion: $2.9 million
2025 Australian Open champion: $2.3 million
🏆 Tournament Results
Champion: Jannik Sinner — defeated Carlos Alcaraz 6–2, 6–4 (Final, Oct 18, 2025)
→ Total earnings: $6 millionRunner-up: Carlos Alcaraz
3rd Place: Taylor Fritz
4th Place: Novak Djokovic
Quarterfinalists: Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas
⚡ Notable Statistic
Alexander Zverev earned $1.5 million for a 59-minute quarterfinal loss to Taylor Fritz—about $25,000 per minute on court.
That’s more than his runner-up payout at the 2025 Australian Open, underscoring the event’s unprecedented payout structure.
The 2025 Six Kings Slam was the richest tennis exhibition ever held, featuring a flat-pay format that rewarded participation as much as progression—an innovation that made headlines across the sports world.
I’ve personally never been to Saudi… not sure that I’d want to visit (long ass flight) but it looked fairly nice… just think a bit to orthodox muslim for me to fit in. Gotta get a white robe and towel or whatever.
What I liked about the Six Kings Slam in 2025…
Elite players: 5 of the top 6 ranked ATP men.
Bye structure: Kind of unique… whichever players have “the most grand slams” get byes in the first round.
Court colors: Looked good… unlike the black Laver Cup in SF. (Hint to Netflix… stop doing black courts. Looks horrendous.)
Light show: Entertaining 3D light show before each match. Theatrics.
Winner payout: In theory should motivate elite play. Bigger payday than all the majors in 2025.
Why the Six Kings Slam was lacking in 2025…
Play-by-play commentary (you had no one good): ABYSMAL. PATHETIC. BRUTAL. Not sure if the Saudis chose the commentators or Netflix or both… but was a major lowlight of the Slam. The cast itself wasn’t bad… they just had nobody qualified to do play-by-play there… the commentary was reasonably good. Play-by-play? Atrocious. Could’ve found a random on Craigslist to do a better job. After an absurdly good shot for a winner there would be a pause and monotone commentary like “another good angle shot” or whatever… epically failing to match the excitement of the point and falling far short of how nasty good some of the shots were.
Questionable camera angles: Unclear if Saudi preference here… I’d guess it was a decision from Netflix. Netflix should either give 2 viewing options in terms of camera angles (side vs. behind) or just stick with conventional angles that are used at most major tournaments. I didn’t mind them… but many were complaining on social media. They were a bit different… didn’t bother me as much as other viewers, but optionality would improve the viewing experience.
Lack of Google listing (match times, live scores, etc.): Contact someone at Google and make sure they are listing the times for the Six Kings Slam as well as providing live score updates. I had to go down some rabbit hole of links to find the schedule and scores. I had to follow TheTennisLetter on X (top tier follow if you like tennis updates).
Players seemed a bit too relaxed: Some quality tennis but didn’t look quite as intense as a major tournament or ATP sanctioned tournament to me. Sinner was on fire, mixing up his game, and Alcaraz had an “off” first set in the final… then picked it up… but Sinner played too good.
Retarded incentive structure: Downright idiotic. Lower the appearance fee. Should be incentivizing each round with higher pay for advancing. Guaranteeing the first round losers get $1.5 million for showing up (the same as the runner-up) isn’t very bright. If players sense they may lose or have an uphill battle they stop giving their all (Logic: Why fight to the end only to lose if you get the same $1.5 million as the guy who loses in 2 sets in Round 1?)
Tsitsipas? Whaaaat?: I like Tsitsipas… but he’s not an ideal replacement for Jack Draper in 2025. Perhaps they reached out to others who turned them down (allegedly Ruud?)… idk. But plenty of better options to make this tournament more competitive… and I find it hard to believe that Musetti, De Minaur, Auger-Aliassime, Medvedev, Rublev etc. would’ve all turned it down.
Ideas to Improve the Six Kings Slam Tournament (Netflix & Saudis)
Get WAY FUCKING BETTER commentators for play-by-play: Find someone with some experience and/or energy who gets excited and can match the energy of the rallies. There were stretches where I questioned if my TV was muted or there was a glitch in announcing… then I realized they were just breathing and not saying anything… then they’d do their run of the mill monotone comments. Once again, the cast wasn’t bad… but all lack what it takes to do play-by-play. Degrades the viewing experience when play-by-play is that bad.
Fix the retarded incentive structure: You aren’t getting the best tennis out of these guys when you guarantee them all $1.5 million for riding some camels in Riyadh. The motivation to win the final is high… but some psychologically know they aren’t gonna be able to hang with Sinner x Alcaraz… so you need to reward winners more than a flat “showing up” fee. Can still give a “base fee” but it shouldn’t be $1.5 million.
Market the tournament better: Marketing team gets a giant L. Last year I didn’t even know it took place… this year was difficult to find information about it other than directly on Netflix, random X accounts, etc. Some tennis fans I know had zero clue this tournament was going on.
Google listing: Contact someone at Google or wherever they get their sports feed data and make sure the match times and live scores are listed when someone does a Google search. We shouldn’t need to sift through clanky ass websites to find when the Top 6 men are playing for $6 million in 2025.
Camera angle optionality or standard angles: Whoever was in charge of the camera angles needs their head examined. It was not popular with viewers and was far from standard. Perhaps it was due to the venue… I’m trying to be charitable here. Use either: (A) standard camera angles (i.e. cameras used in most major tennis tournaments) OR (B) give people options (your shitty angles vs. standard)… don’t give people angles they despise (good way to degrade the viewing experience).
Consider making the tournament larger (8, 10, 12, 24 players?): Can just call it the Saudi King Slam or expand to match the number of players you want in it. Or call it the King Slam (no need to add a number before it). Could give those with the most slams 2 rounds of byes and those with fewer slams 1 round of byes, etc. and adjust appearance fees accordingly too (not everyone should get the same appearance fee). Could easily double the field while keeping the same style (e.g. make lower rank guys work harder to advance, mid-tier get one round of byes, top tier get 2-3 rounds of byes depending on how large you make it). No need to guarantee any money to anyone other than the top 6 or whatever if that’s what it takes to get them there.
Prior year’s winner automatically gets a first-round bye (?): I know they go by whichever players have the most Grand Slams… that’s fine with me. But you could consider doing something like: prior year’s winner gets first round bye along with whoever has the most slams (hybridized). Or you could even go prior winner and top ranked man OR most Slams + #1 ranked get byes (that’s how it worked out this year anyway).
Consider best of 5 sets instead of 3: Could do the entire tournament as a best of 5 sets. This may be too physically taxing for a non-ATP event… but is worth considering for the higher-than-any-major payout and guaranteed appearance fee.
Consider a best of 5 final (but 2/3 in earlier rounds): Can do the entire tournament “best of 3” and change the final to “best of 5.” They’re playing for the highest prize (beyond what’s paid in the majors). We don’t necessarily need a best of 5 set finale… but it’s worth considering. (I guess this works against old-timers like Djoker… and I always root for him, but he can no longer hang with the 2-headed Sincaraz monster in a best of 3 anyways… so going best of 5 doesn’t matter too much.)
Get feedback from players re: court surface conditions & lighting (and make changes): Sinner was vocal about the court conditions describing the court as “very unusual” with highly temperamental characteristics. He claimed the surface was “quite bouncy, with new balls it’s quite fast and it slows down with used balls.” The court gave high and wide bounces on kick-serves while remaining flat and slow during other rallies… creating unpredictable conditions.
Appearance fees: Can stay the same or modify to a tiered structure based on total slams and/or rankings. Or if you expand the tournament you pay the top 6 the same appearance fee but make the rest of the field earn it via earlier round qualifiers (e.g. they must win a match or two to get the appearance fees of the top 6). I think tourney would’ve been better with lower appearance fees and higher payouts for wins.
Production quality: One tennis journalist from “Hard Court” called it “the least pleasurable tennis viewing experience I’ve ever witnessed” due to the awkward atmosphere, horrendous camera angles, and sedative presentation. I agree 10,000%… what the fuck Netflix?! Netflix needs to get their shit together here. Just pay Cliff Drysdale to solo act it in retirement (would’ve been far better than what we watched).
No payment for first round wins: Only pay for semifinal wins, third place match win, and the finale/championship win. Each payout should fit the stakes.
How to Fix Incentives at the Six Kings Slam (Assuming It Maintains Just 6 Players)
Here’s what I would’ve done for the 2025 tournament.
There’s no reason Tsitsipas and Zverev should’ve walked away with the same amount as Alcaraz and Fritz, etc.
This would be simple if you wanted to guarantee a $1M base.
Base appearance fee: $1,000,000
Win Quarterfinal: +$0 (no bonus)
Win Semifinal: +$1.85M
Win 3rd Place Match: +$550k
Win Final: +$3,050,000
Could play around with this more though… perhaps you go lighter on the appearance fee (e.g. $500k or $750k) and heavier on the rewards for winning matches.
Prize Breakdown with a $500k appearance fee but $0 for winning QF (Hypothetical Alternative)
Why consider this? No $1.5M just for showing up. Still get a base appearance fee and rewarded for winning. You are incentivized to win and compete hard.
Base appearance fee: $500,000
Win Quarterfinal: $0
Win Semifinal: +$2,500,000
Win 3rd Place: +$700,000
Win Final: +$4,800,000
Hopefully someone from Saudi and/or Netflix reads this and other critical feedback elsewhere so that they can improve the Six Kings Slam.
It has a lot of potential, but fell massively short in both viewing experience and effort out of the Top 6. Throwing oil money around is great… but get some more value for it!