Istanbul Was Huge Success for WTA

Written by: Staff on 7th November 2011

Istanbul Was Huge Success for WTA

Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic reacts during her final match against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus at the WTA Championships tennis tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, 30 October 2011. EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU |

The WTA season is now over, and there are smiles in the St Petersburg office after the move to Istanbul for the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships proved to be a resounding success as the event registered the highest attendance in 12 years and set record broadcast and digital audience milestones.

Total Championships attendance reached 70,824, with the average session visited by 11,804 fans. The Sunday finals (October 30, 2011) were watched by 13,676 fans. In addition, the event broadcast more than 400 hours of live coverage in 164 countries through 22 international TV broadcasters, the widest reach of a WTA Championships to date.

Among the broadcast highlights, the WTA’s longstanding partner Eurosport once again telecast the Championships across its pan-European footprint. The previous high came last year at the WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar through coverage by 19 international broadcasters in 162 countries.

Additionally, Eurosport.com and ESPN3.com, among many others, offered live streaming web broadcast of all matches, and TennisTV.com brought fans not only matches but daily highlights, shot of the day, player interviews and features.

The WTA’s official website offered fans daily highlight videos, player features, scores and photos and registered record traffic during the Championships. Unique visits and page views were up by 67% and 56%, respectfully, over last year’s Championships results. The number of daily visits peaked on Friday, October 28, 2011 – the highest since September 2010.

“The TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships was an historic event in a new market, and having a full stadium of enthusiastic fans supporting our players at the WTA’s crown-jewel finale has demonstrated the global reach and strength of women’s tennis.

“Sold-out attendance is also a testament to the Ministry of Sport and Turkish Tennis Federation’s efforts in executing, promoting and organizing this great event,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the WTA.

DAILY TENNIS NEWS WIRE

Topics: Istanbul, Wta