Saudis dangle cash in front of women’s tennis officials
Saudi Arabia is plotting a major push into tennis by trying to entice a women’s tour event to the kingdom, Telegraph Sport can reveal.
It follows the controversial £2 billion launch of the breakaway LIV Golf series as well as investments in football and Formula One as part of what is seen by critics as a “sportwashing” ploy.
The Saudis have been seeking a deal with the ATP Tour for at least five years but have been repeatedly rebuffed by the men’s game, yet the Women’s Tennis Association, which enjoys far less financial security, declined to rule out the concept when contacted this week.
A spokesperson said: “We have received inquiries from Saudi Arabia as to interest in bringing a WTA event to the region. As a global organisation, we are always interested and appreciative of inquiries received from anywhere in the world and we look seriously at each opportunity [but] we have not entered into formal negotiations.”
The WTA Tour has been sailing into strong financial headwinds since chief executive Steve Simon took a moral stand on China’s apparent silencing of Peng Shuai last year. Although admirable in principle, this knocked out one of his central sources of funding.
When the WTA signed a four-year deal with health provider Hologic in March, it is understood that it had to request more than half the total sum — which works out at around $US20 million a year — to be paid up front in order to allay cash-flow concerns.
An alternative solution is the large fee — reported to be in excess of £100 million — being offered by privateequity firm CVC Capital Partners for a stake in a new, jointly-run WTA Tour, along with access to the WTA’S commercial rights. CVC has already invested in F1, rugby and cricket, and in December, it offered $US600 million for a stake in a unified tennis model combining the men’s and women’s tours.
While not ruling out a privateequity alliance, the ATP have so far declined to commit themselves. Now the WTA are seen as more likely partners for CVC.
Some believe that a CVC deal could be struck in the next two months, adding another stakeholder to the already convoluted governance of tennis.