The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has released a “pathway toward equal prize money” and a revised tour calendar to provide “sustainable long-term growth for women’s tennis”.
Having founded the WTA 50 years ago, Billie Jean King shared her feelings on the association’s changes, saying, “Fifty years after the players found strength in unity, I’m proud the WTA continues to be a global leader focused on providing opportunities, and hope that women in other sports and walks of life are inspired by its example.”
One of the main pillars of the WTA’s strategy is the pathway to equal prize money, which they say is a goal first envisioned by King. The increase in prize money will happen gradually, with WTA 1000 and 500 combined events attaining equal prize money by 2027 and single-week WTA 1000 and 500 events by 2033.
WTA Chairman and CEO, Steve Simon said: “Equality, including equal compensation, is a fundamental principle of the WTA and it is crucial to attain this level.”
Over the past few years, there’s been a widening pay gap between the WTA tour and the ATP tour (men’s professional tennis). The Guardian reports that at the recent Italian Open, a joint event, the men’s event boasted a total purse of $8,637,966 (roughly £6.75m) while the women’s event was $3,572,618 (roughly £2.75m).
Speaking on behalf of the tournaments, President of Beemok Sports & Entertainment and Tournament Director of the Credit One Charleston Open, Bob Moran said, “we are proud and committed to make equal prize money a reality. This investment is critical in finally having professional women’s and men’s tennis on equal footing.”
To ensure growth opportunities and a structure for player mobility, the WTA is also creating a revised calendar. The new tour will showcase the top players consistently playing the top events, and will provide a strong narrative throughout the year to tell the story of athletes’ journeys to the global fanbase.
The WTA 1000 level tournaments will increase to a total of 10 events. Several of the tournaments– Rome (2023), Madrid and Beijing (2024) and Cincinnati and Toronto/Montreal (2025), in addition to the existing Indian Wells and Miami competitions– are transitioning to become two weeks long, a strategy meant to increase draw sizes.
The additional WTA 1000 events will be one-week events in Doha, Dubai and a yet-to-be-named event.
WTA 500 tournaments will increase to 17 events — Abu Dhabi, Adelaide, Berlin, Brisbane, Charleston, Eastbourne, Monterrey, San Diego, Seoul, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Tokyo, United Cup, Washington, Zhengzhou and two yet-to-be-named events.
A stronger regional focus in tournaments will occur at the WTA 250 level, which the WTA says will “create a more sustainable and viable business model that will help foster the next generation of stars.”
There will also be new player entry rules to boost the quality of the player fields.
“This game-changing moment for the Hologic WTA Tour will align both tournament and player interests and help current and future generations of female tennis players,” WTA Players’ Council member Donna Vekic said. “We are incredibly proud to be part of these developments and the legacy it will have on equal prize money.”