The Women’s Tennis Tour is Examining Saudi Arabia for Potential Business

Women’s tennis is investigating the opportunity to do business with Saudi Arabia, much as other sports. Although it is not urgent to conduct a tournament there, WTA Chairman and CEO Steve Simon said on Friday that he visited the nation in February along with other players as part of the assessment process.

At a celebration in London to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the conference that resulted in the establishment of the WTA, Simon stated, “It’s a very complex and extremely hard matter that’s, obviously, being assessed by many, many various organizations right now.

He admitted that there “are still tons of issues in Saudi Arabia” with relation to the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people.

“I believe that our current situation is that: We’ve spoken. We’ll keep talking to each other, Simon remarked.

Simon made his remarks a few days after the WTA, located in St. Petersburg, Florida, said it was establishing a “pathway to equal prize money” to ensure that women and men get equal payouts at certain events by 2027 and others by 2033. Simon said on Tuesday that extra funds will come from incremental increases made by the tournaments themselves as well as from income anticipated to come from broadcast, data, and sponsorship rights via WTA Ventures, the tour’s for-profit business venture that was established in March.

“I’m not advocating doing business with Saudi Arabia at this time. He said on Friday that it was still being assessed.

The Saudi sovereign wealth fund, formally known as the Public Investment Fund, has been in touch with the ATP men’s tennis circuit. On June 6, it was announced that the PGA Tour, European Tour, and fund that supported the LIV Golf series will merge their respective commercial operations. Leading players from Europe have been recruited by Saudi soccer clubs.

These kinds of agreements have been cited as instances of “sportswashing” – initiatives to redefine a country’s troublesome public image via what occurs on playing grounds.

Simon presented the problem on Friday by suggesting that it would provide a chance to advance human rights in Saudi Arabia.

“I believe that you should take these circumstances and what you’re mentioning with Saudi Arabia extremely seriously. You must assess them. We’ll need to determine how to approach it and include them if we want them to act on what they’re saying today and improve the opportunities for women in the nation, Simon added. “You must back it up. You are unable to ignore it.

I’m a strong believer in involvement, said equal rights pioneer and International Tennis Hall of Fame member Billie Jean King during a panel discussion at the event on Friday. You won’t change, in my opinion, until you participate. If we don’t participate, how are things going to change?