The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) governing body’s commercial wing, WTA Ventures, has unveiled it expects to secure record commercial revenue for the organisation across 2024.
WTA Ventures expects to increase commercial revenue for the women’s tour by 24%, in its first full year (the wing was established in March 2023).
It was formed as part of a strategic partnership between the WTA and the CVC Capital Partners fund in March last year, and WTA Ventures now oversees the commercial and media rights operations of the women's tennis tour.
The revenue increase, WTA Ventures has said, puts the vehicle on track to “achieve its long-term goal of tripling commercial revenue over the six years between 2023 and 2029.”
WTA Ventures has also outlined record growth in its social and digital audiences over the last 12 months, with the total follower number across the WTA’s social media channels up at 6.3 million as of the end of October.
That figure represents year-on-year growth of 26%, while video views across WTA social channels have increased by 195% since the start of 2024.
These numbers have been released following the conclusion of the end-of-season 2024 WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia, which ran between November 2 and 9.
The Kingdom is hosting that event between 2024 and 2026 through a Saudi Tennis Federation deal unveiled in early April.
In terms of commercial planning for 2025, meanwhile, WTA Ventures has said it plans to introduce a new sponsorship tier, premier partner, offering brands “unparalleled access to a growing sport and fanbase.”
Marina Storti, WTA Ventures’ chief executive, commented: “2024 has been a huge year of progress for WTA Ventures as our new growth strategy starts to deliver on the exciting opportunities for women’s tennis. To increase commercial revenue by almost a quarter in year one is a tribute to great work by the entire team that we’ve brought together.
“Our aim is to make women’s tennis a commercial powerhouse so that we can fuel reinvestment in the sport and help the WTA to keep championing our amazing athletes and events.
“With a global audience of more than 1 billion and an exciting generation of inspirational players, there is still so much untapped potential for commercial growth.”
In terms of recent commercial activity, late November saw the WTA expand its partnership with watch brand Rolex.
A substantial, multi-year, global partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (through which it presents the WTA Finals) was another major commercial deal struck by the WTA this year.
