ATP-WTA Tour Commercial Rights Merger Would Provide Unique Opportunity for Women’s Sports Partners

An agreement between the men’s and women’s pro tennis tours to jointly manage and sell their media, sponsorship and data rights could be finalized in the first half of next year, according to a report last week from Front Office Sports.

Such commercial joint ventures carry numerous pros and cons for both the rights holders involved and their current and future brand partners. Over the years, many similar initiatives have failed to get off the drawing board because of the complications of ensuring that the new structure can deliver value to all parties.

In the case of the ATP and WTA Tour, the proposed alignment comes at “the most tenuous time for tennis,” as Octagon founder and president Phil de Picciotto described it to The New York Times earlier this year. The sport is buffeted by multiple challenges and a merger could help address issues such as the women’s circuit’s financial difficulties since pulling out of China and the need to strengthen both tours’ position against the four grand slam tournaments and their proposed Premium Tour.

“Everyone is jockeying for position amid a new landscape,” the longtime top agent for Steffi Graf and other stars added.

As described to FOS, the new Tennis Ventures unit would split revenues roughly 80-20 or 75-25 between the men’s and women’s organizations, reflecting the current disparity between the two circuits, where the ATP earns more than twice as much as the WTA Tour in yearly income. “It’s not a good deal for the WTA in the short term … but I think accepting it and going for the long game, you’re going to benefit,” the source told FOS.

While the rev share model makes sense based on the current situation of both tours, it is not aligned with the bigger-picture goal of creating parity between men’s and women’s sports, as reflected in prize money for pro tennis events, among other recent developments.

Thus the opportunity for the rights buyers targeted by Tennis Ventures will be to use their purchasing power to nudge the split closer to 50-50. Clearly the ATP will not agree to any arrangements that would reduce its current revenues—nor should it—but any successful negotiations that more quickly narrow the gap would create a powerful statement about the partners’ commitment to equity for women’s sports.

The time is right to capitalize on the excitement generated by up-and-coming stars on both circuits—including Americans Jessica Pegula, Taylor Fritz, Emma Navarro and Frances Tiafoe—and to reinforce that women’s sports are on a level playing field with men’s.