Overview: The Liga.Tennis Ecosystem

Liga.Tennis (often referred to as "Liga") is a Bali-based, multi-faceted racquet sports ecosystem. It is not just a single club but a brand operating a chain of premium, full-service clubs (tennis, padel, squash, pickleball) and a powerful digital community app. The company's stated mission is "INSPIRING TO LIVE BETTER WITH TENNIS & RACQUET SPORTS."

The business is positioned as a "lifestyle hub" that integrates physical facilities with a technology platform, aiming to be the "iPhone or Mercedes" of racquet sports in Indonesia. It operates on a "no membership required" model, lowering the barrier to entry and driving all users through its proprietary app.

History & Key Milestones

Feb 14, 2017: The Liga.Tennis mobile app is launched to connect players in Bali, famously from the hospital on the day founder Dmytro Shcherbakov's son was born.
Nov 12, 2017: The first Liga.Tennis tournament is organized, confirming an active community.
May 25, 2019: The first physical flagship club, Liga.Tennis Umalas (Canggu), opens after the founders mortgaged their home to finance it.
Dec 5, 2019: Tennis legend Novak Djokovic visits the Umalas club, providing instant global attention and brand validation.
2020-2024: Rapid expansion with new clubs including Liga.Tennis Nusa Dua (Feb 2020), Sanur (Oct 2021), and Padel Seminyak (June 2024).
Dec 2022: Significant diversification with the opening of the Liga.Tennis Sanur Padel Club, capitalizing on the high-growth padel market.
July 7, 2023: A dedicated management entity, Liga.Tennis Management, is formally established to centralize operations and ensure consistent quality.

The "Digital-Physical Flywheel" Business Model

Liga.Tennis operates on a self-reinforcing flywheel model with three main components:

Physical Clubs (B2C): Premium, full-service clubs that act as high-visibility marketing hubs and community centers. They provide the core service and brand experience.
Digital App (B2C): The "connective tissue" of the ecosystem. This community app (nearly 100,000 members) handles all bookings, partner-finding, leagues, and social engagement, creating a "sticky" user base and capturing the entire customer relationship.
Digital Software (B2B): The company packages its internally-developed management software and sells it as a SaaS solution to other, independent club owners. This generates a high-margin, scalable revenue stream.

Expansion Strategy: The "Network Operator"

The company's goal is to operate 77 clubs worldwide. To achieve this, it uses a capital-light "network operator" model, which the founder compares to "AirAsia, but for racket sports." Instead of a traditional franchise, Liga.Tennis:

Leases existing clubs: Takes over 100% of an independent club's operation, rebrands it, and pays the owner a fixed rental fee.
Co-owns new builds: Partners with investors to build new clubs, with Liga.Tennis acting as the professional long-term manager.

Sophisticated Corporate Structure

The "Liga" company is a bifurcated legal structure designed for scalability and legal compliance in Indonesia:

PT. Ligatennis Sports Management (Local PT): This is the operational and brand-holding company. It manages all the clubs, operates the app, holds the intellectual property, and acts as the central data controller.
PT PMA Bali Tennis International (Foreign-Owned PT PMA): This is the asset-holding entity for the physical Umalas club. This legal vehicle permits foreign nationals, like Dmytro Shcherbakov, to legally invest in, own, and operate a business in Indonesia.

Key Questions for Dmytro Shcherbakov

Given the context of a potential major investment (e.g., via Blackstone), here are strategic questions that build upon the synthesized report and probe the key areas of scalability, structure, and risk.

1. Investment & Corporate Structure

"The reports show a very smart bifurcated structure: PT. Ligatennis Sports Management for operations/IP and PT PMA Bali Tennis International for the Umalas assets. Could you clarify the ownership structure and cap table for both entities? Is the equity split identical?"
"As you scale, is the plan to create a new, separate PT PMA for each new club? How do you envision a major investment partner fitting into this? Would they invest at the parent/management level (the PT) or on an asset-by-asset basis (the PMAs)?"

2. Scalability & The "77 Club" Vision

"Your 'AirAsia' network operator model is a brilliant capital-light strategy. What is your target mix between this lease model versus capital-heavy new builds? How do you protect the 'Mercedes' brand standard when leasing existing clubs you didn't build?"
"When you do take over an existing club for leasing, what is the typical CapEx required to bring it up to the Liga.Tennis standard, and how does that payback period compare to a new build?"

3. Digital Strategy & Unit Economics

"How do you view the B2B SaaS product? Is it primarily a strategic tool to funnel more clubs and users into your app ecosystem, or is it a primary, high-margin revenue stream in its own right?"
"Beyond the standard P&L, what are the unit economics you track? Specifically, what is your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) for an app user, and what is your conversion rate from a 'free app member' to a 'paying court customer'?"

4. Brand, Risk & Competition

"You've noted the risk of a 'padel oversupply' boom. How does your premium, systemized brand protect you from a 'race to the bottom' on price? What, in your view, is your single most defensible moat?"
"What has been the biggest operational challenge in scaling from one club to six, and what is your plan to solve that challenge when scaling from six to seventy-seven?"

5. Operations & Scaling the "Premium DNA"

"Your founding 'tripod' is perfect for Bali. How do you plan to scale that management DNA—particularly Raphael's 35 years of 'premium quality'—to clubs in Manado or Antalya? What is the 'Liga.Tennis University' or training program for new general managers?"