When Venus Williams held up her prized winner’s plate at Wimbledon last July, it was more than just a great victory, it was historic. Thirty-four years after the founding of the WTA, Wimbledon became the last of the four Grand Slams to acquiesce to equal prize money and so Williams’ winnings were the equivalent of the men’s victor, Roger Federer.
Whether it’s shattering glass ceilings in London, the Middle East or India, or reaping record-breaking sponsorship deals, the Sony Ericsson WTA in 2007 enjoyed a year of tremendous success.
Just a few years removed from economic troubles that could have sunk the top professional sport for women, the WTA has thrived to such an extent it has nearly overtaken the ATP commercially, and now boasts the first million-dollar executive in women’s sports in Chief Executive Larry Scott.
In 2007 the WTA renewed its sponsorship with Sony Ericsson, the largest in women’s sports, at long last unveiled a new calendar intended to create a handful of elite events, sold the rights to the season-ending championship for $84 million over six years to Doha and Istanbul, and signed a $32 million development deal with the Chinese government that includes a new tournament in Beijing.
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Tennis is one of the few televised sports that regularly draws more female viewers than male.
“No other sport has had so much exponential growth, no other sport has shattered and made such significant impact on society,” Scott said.
Just a few months ago, Israeli Shaheer Peer became the first athlete from her country, male or female, to play in an Arab state when she competed in Dubai. Sania Mirza survived a fatwa issued against her for wearing tennis skirts and today is the second-most-popular athlete in India.
And then there is equal prize money, a holy grail goal long thought unattainable and today a reality.
“The undying commitment of Larry Scott and the staff and players of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to completing the quest for equal prize money at the four major tennis tournaments is not only the biggest accomplishment for all of women’s sports in 2007, but a tribute to the countless women and men who for the last 34 years fought the good fight to ensure women and men are treated — and compensated — equally in our sport,” said Billie Jean King, the WTA’s founder.
Perhaps no less impressive is the remake of the calendar. This involved downgrading the status of several events, getting the players committed to playing certain mandatory tournaments, and agreeing to suspensions for withdrawals.
And for all the crying about the WTA abandoning the U.S., two of its four crown jewel events are in the United States: Indian Wells, Calif., and Miami. Scott fully concedes the focus is elsewhere, the Middle East, Europe and Asia, boom areas for the sport. The WTA in May opened a new office in Beijing.
Scott does not shy away from this, and said the U.S. probably sees only 5 percent of the WTA’s story from these shores, though in terms of attendance and revenue it’s far higher. Tennis is a global sport, he said, and the U.S. is only one part of the equation.
Renewed sponsorship with Sony Ericsson.
