By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday June 27, 2023
The WTA is aiming for equal prize money across the board, by 2023.
Photo Source: WTA
The WTA Tour has offered equal prize money to men and women at the four Grand Slams since 2007, but on the main tour there is still work to be done. Case in point: the large pay gaps exist on the tour at combined events such as Madrid, Rome, Cincinnati, and the National Bank Open, held across Toronto and Montreal.
According to figures released by the New York Times on Tuesday, the men earned $8.5 million compared to $3.9 million for the women at Rome in May, while the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati paid men $6.28 and women $2.53 million last August; the National Bank Open in Canada offered the men $5.9 million last year, compared with $2.53 million for the women in 2022.
Those yawning gaps have been a bone of contention for the women’s tour, and the tour's supporters, but the powers that be say that in order to achieve true equality from a prize money perspective, time is needed to renegotiate media contracts, expand marketing, make changes in ranking points allotted, while allowing for mandatory attendance by top players at high-level tournaments.
On Tuesday the tour announced its time frame: by 2027, it said, all combined 1000-level events will offer equal prize money.
“One of the main pillars of the strategy includes creating a pathway towards equal prize money, a goal envisioned 50 years ago when Billie Jean King founded the WTA,” the tour said in an emailed statement. “This increase will happen over time, to ensure the changes are sustainable for players and tournaments in the long term, with WTA 1000 and 500 combined events attaining equal prize money by 2027, and single-week WTA 1000 and 500 events by 2033.”
Though equality in four years may not satiate some players on tour, especially those nearing the end of their career, the news means that real, tangible change is coming for the women who will shape the future of the WTA Tour. For one-week 1000-level and 500-level events, the wait will be even longer, until 2033.
Nevertheless the plan was met with support from the rank and file.
“Every generation contributes to preserving the future of their sport, striving to leave it in a better state for the next. I take pride in being a part of this evolution and fully support the WTA's commitment to progress,” said Sloane Stephens, a member of the WTA Players’ Council.
“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,” stated WTA Player and Players’ Council member Donna Vekic. “We are incredibly proud to be part of these developments and the legacy it will have on equal prize money.”
The 2024 Hologic WTA Tour calendar will be finalized and announced in the coming months, with several issues still lingering.
First, the WTA has not renegotiated its deal to hold the WTA Finals in Shenzhen. In 2018 the tour signed a 10-year deal to host the event in Shenzhen, and offered a record $14 million in prize money in the inaugural year of the deal. But the event has not been held in China since the pandemic started. According to the New York Times, negotiations are ongoing to return the event to Shenzhen.
Second, talk of a merger of sorts between the WTA and ATP is still on the backburner. Many believe merging the tour’s media rights is a prudent way to move forward into a financially lucrative future, but how much autonomy each tour will be given in the wake of such a deal is a stumbling block.
Finally, Saudi Arabia is hungry to gain access to tennis and is currently making a play to host the ATP’s Next Gen Finals. With the Kingdom's poor record on human rights issues at play, any move the tours make into Saudi Arabia will be watched and scrutinized carefully, with the money from the Saudi public investment fund (rumored to be $650 billion) hard to resist, but the optics undeniably sordid.