Tweet
FYI _ NYT article this am. After losing Chinese money, WTA looks to Middle East.
ATP already rejected proposal. Paywall.
First time I've seen concrete numbers on the losses from Asia, which was rumored to provide up to 50% of WTA funding. But it only lists prize money and not sponsorship fees. Turin, Italy reportedly paid a hefty amount to move the WTF from London O2 to Italy.
Saudi Arabia, a Growing Force in Golf, Seeks to Host Women’s Tennis
The kingdom shook up the PGA Tour with the creation of the LIV Golf series. Now it is pushing to secure a WTA Tour event.
"Saudi Arabia has approached the Women’s Tennis Association about hosting an event, possibly the Tour Finals, but the WTA has not entertained the prospect of a tournament there in any formal fashion.
"It was a significant financial blow to the WTA. China had paid a record $14 million in prize money in 2019, the first year of the agreement. That was double the amount of prize money from 2018, when the WTA Finals finished its five-year run in Singapore. The WTA relocated the finals last year to Guadalajara, Mexico, which offered only $5 million in prize money and a drastically reduced payment for the right to host the event.
WTA leaders have yet to announce the WTA Finals host city for 2022, and it remains a challenge, with the longer-term Shenzhen deal still in place, to find candidates interested in bidding for the Finals for just one year.
{Austrian businessman and tennis tournament promoter Peter-Michael} "Reichel’s company owns and operates the WTA tournament in Linz, Austria, and the ATP tournament in Hamburg, Germany. He is a member of the WTA board of directors and has been one of those lobbying for Saudi Arabia to have an official tour event. But for now, those efforts have fallen short. The ATP recently rebuffed a proposal that Reichel was involved in to relocate an existing event to Saudi Arabia."
ATP already rejected proposal. Paywall.
First time I've seen concrete numbers on the losses from Asia, which was rumored to provide up to 50% of WTA funding. But it only lists prize money and not sponsorship fees. Turin, Italy reportedly paid a hefty amount to move the WTF from London O2 to Italy.
Saudi Arabia, a Growing Force in Golf, Seeks to Host Women’s Tennis
The kingdom shook up the PGA Tour with the creation of the LIV Golf series. Now it is pushing to secure a WTA Tour event.
"Saudi Arabia has approached the Women’s Tennis Association about hosting an event, possibly the Tour Finals, but the WTA has not entertained the prospect of a tournament there in any formal fashion.
"It was a significant financial blow to the WTA. China had paid a record $14 million in prize money in 2019, the first year of the agreement. That was double the amount of prize money from 2018, when the WTA Finals finished its five-year run in Singapore. The WTA relocated the finals last year to Guadalajara, Mexico, which offered only $5 million in prize money and a drastically reduced payment for the right to host the event.
WTA leaders have yet to announce the WTA Finals host city for 2022, and it remains a challenge, with the longer-term Shenzhen deal still in place, to find candidates interested in bidding for the Finals for just one year.
{Austrian businessman and tennis tournament promoter Peter-Michael} "Reichel’s company owns and operates the WTA tournament in Linz, Austria, and the ATP tournament in Hamburg, Germany. He is a member of the WTA board of directors and has been one of those lobbying for Saudi Arabia to have an official tour event. But for now, those efforts have fallen short. The ATP recently rebuffed a proposal that Reichel was involved in to relocate an existing event to Saudi Arabia."
Comment