Women’s tennis tour signs record $525 million broadcast deal
By Bloomberg
The women’s tennis tour signed the biggest broadcasting contract in the sport, as Perform Group Plc agreed to pay $525 million for rights to of its all singles matches over 10 years.
The agreement creates a company called WTA Media that will produce all 2,000 main draw matches on the women’s tour live from 2017. It will also produce news programs, magazine shows and off-court content that fans can watch on television, computers or hand-held devices such as phones or tablets.
“This is a game changer and a historic moment for the WTA and women’s sport,” Stacey Allaster, chairman and chief executive officer of the women’s tennis WTA tour, said in an interview.
Sports and media rights company Perform outbid talent agency IMG, which created “healthy competition,” Allaster said.
“This is the biggest rights commitment we’ve ever made to any sports rights holder,” Simon Denyer, joint CEO of London- based Perform, said in an interview. He said the agreement would add 15 percent to its annual revenue from 2017.
Although the London Olympics were dominated by female athletes -- every country sent women athletes and men were outnumbered on the U.S. team -- women’s sports have struggled to attract commercial investment.
In the U.K., women’s activities receive 0.4 percent of all sports sponsorship money -- estimated at 1.59 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) by World Sponsorship Monitor -- and 7 percent of all sports media coverage, according to Women in Sport.
Women’s Growth
Since being founded by 39-time Grand Slam champion Billie Jean King in a London hotel in 1973, the WTA has bucked that trend. It has become the leading professional sport for women with a record $120 million in prize money next season, from $309,100 four decades ago. In 2005, the WTA signed a six-year, $88 million naming-rights deal with mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd., which was a record at the time.
“Without question, women’s sports needs consistent, year- round exposure in order to compete for the fans’ attention, their engagement and disposable income,” Allaster said. “More exposure, more fans, more sponsorship revenues.”
Some 2,500 women from 92 countries compete on the tour, and the current top-10 ranked players all come from different countries. American Serena Williams, an 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, is No. 1. Almost 5.4 million spectators attended its events this season.
“There are really only two sports that play almost every single day of the year, and that’s golf and tennis,” Denyer said.
Every Tournament
The deal “allows us to supply all of our broadcasters and other media companies accessing the feeds with live sports every single day,” he said, adding there had been “increased demand” for women’s tennis from broadcasters around the world.
Under its current agreement with the WTA, Perform offers 22 women’s tournaments. That will be increased to all 54 women’s events.
Allaster, a former junior tennis player from Canada, said the WTA is trying to cater for a younger audience, which has vastly different viewing habits.
“My 10-year-old daughter was watching the National Football League the other day, but the television wasn’t on,” she said. “She was watching it on Instagram, which was getting her updates on all the great plays. Our younger fans, they are consuming their sports entertainment in short form, and it is entirely different from how today’s fan is watching their sports entertainment.”