The political strife over trade barriers between the U.S. and China has affected everything from farms to technology firms. Now it appears to have extended into sports, too, as negotiations with a Chinese company for a WTA Tour lead sponsorship deal have been suspended.
“Due to the global political climate those discussions are momentarily on hold,” said WTA President Micky Lawler, who for more than a year has led the negotiations and once expected to announce the deal with the as-yet-unknown partner in late December.
WTA President Micky Lawler had hoped to announce a new lead sponsor late last year.getty images
Lawler, who has also shepherded the WTA’s aggressive tournament push into China, would not comment directly on whether the China-U.S. trade frictions were to blame. But the nearly-complete talks between the WTA and the Chinese company turned quickly, sources said, the day after a top Chinese executive with Huawei was arrested Dec. 1 in Canada at the U.S.’s request for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions against Iran.
Any deal would still need signoff from the Chinese government.
“The government is involved in virtually everything in China,” said Marc Ganis, a sports business consultant who also works in the film business in China.
It is not surprising the WTA deal is stuck, he said.
“Something with that much international visibility has a current of political sensitivity in China,” he said. “Before they sign up for a major, visible sponsorship, they would want the political issues resolved. It’s standard operating procedure there.”
For the WTA, it may be back to the drawing board, unless it wants to wait out the China trade wars.
The tour has been looking for a top sponsor since 2012, when Sony Ericsson decided, in the wake of corporate restructuring, to end its role as the WTA’s lead or title sponsor after seven years.
The WTA currently has five sponsors (the ATP has 11), including some lower-level global deals with the likes of Porsche and SAP, but it has been seeking more of an umbrella sponsorship for several years. One of the difficulties the WTA has long encountered is the global nature of the sport and finding a company with enough worldwide reach to execute the sponsorship and make it effective globally.
Now the WTA can add trade war political risk to the challenges it has to overcome.
