WTA Has Two Major Tasks

Written by: Staff on 23rd October 2012

WTA Has Two Major Tasks |

As the top eight players in women’s tennis battle out the WTA Championships in Istanbul, there will be little time to sit back and enjoy the action for chief executive Stacey Allaster who has two overriding aims; to find a new tour sponsor and a venue willing to take on this problematical event.

According to Allaster, the WTA Championships provide 40% of the net operating revenues and is more important to the tour’s operating budget than sponsorship. “So it’s mission critical,” she said in an interview with the New York Times. “Obviously it’s also our largest marketing platform and that’s key in the sponsorship equation as well.”

This is the second visit of a three years agreement to stage the event in Istanbul and last year’s debut was viewed as a success. However previous stops in Qatar, Madrid and Los Angeles’s Staples Center failed to attract big crowds.

Istanbul does not plan to renew and so Allaster is again on the hunt for a five years deal and expects the final pool of candidates for the 2014 season and beyond to come from Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

Shanghai, once the scene of the Tennis Masters Cup, has already said there is no interest but the WTA has a strong footing in China and will next year stage three other events at Guangzhou, Beijing and as from next January, Shenzhen.

So Eastern Europe or Latin America seems to beckon and Allaster said: “There’s no doubt if the finances are there and the facilities are there and the operator and government support — and it’s got to be government backed — but if all of those factors are ticked, it sure would be nice to go to a market where you don’t have W.T.A. tennis.

“It’s one of the nice things about the Championships. It is that one strategic asset where you can go into a market like Istanbul and build the brand.”

Allaster also stresses confidence in the sponsorship situation. At the beginning of 2005, her predecessor Larry Scott brokered with Sony Ericsson the largest sponsorship in the history of women’s sport with a six years deal worth $88 million. The deal was renewed, in a reduced form in 2010 but the company, now known as simply Sony, has been remodeled and will not continue its backing.

Allaster said: “I remain optimistic that we will announce a minimum of one, maybe two, regional partnerships for 2013. Those conversations have come out of the lead global partner discussions so there’s the positive and these are great premium brands. It will be good business momentum for us.

“There are still a couple active conversations on 2013 for the lead global partner, but I think as we are getting closer to really companies making their marketing decisions it’s a high hurdle for 2013. So we prepared for this day. We knew the day would come. We knew it’s a long sales cycle. Usually it’s 18 to 24 months for a partnership of this level.”