Women’s tennis has looked glamorous on court all season, but the financial situation behind the court has been in shambles. According to a report from the Telegraph’s Simon Briggs, the WTA tour is expected to lose around $23 million in operating losses and will have just $15 million left in the bank by the end of this year. If it continues to lose money at that rate, the organization could be in debt by the end of 2027. 

Reporters who spend their weeks following the tour said the figures matched what they had already been noticing on the ground. Talking Tennis host, John Silk, reported attending an entire tournament in Berlin and only getting one interview, while other media representatives are not bothering to travel to some tournaments anymore, alleging that organizers and tour officials are disagreeing about the way things are being done behind the scenes.

“As someone who has worked in tennis for more than four years, I cannot overstate just how badly run the WTA Tour is,” he wrote on X. “Went to Berlin in 2023 and 2024 – got one interview across the whole tournament. And media not going anymore. Organisers banging their heads with WTA officials”

Another voice in tennis, well-known social media page, Tennis Updates, zeroed in on the contradiction between the sport’s quality and its finances.

“It’s incredible how poorly the WTA is ran considering all the stars they have,” they wrote. “It’s objectively been far more interesting than even the ATP this season but WTA has never been ran well.”

Two years ago, the numbers were very different. The tour actually turned a small profit in 2024 off $142 million in revenue. This year, that figure is expected to drop to $112 million, even as the losses pile up to a level not previously seen on the tour’s books. 

Much of the damage can be traced back to two decisions that were not under the control of the tour. Walking away early from a three-year contract to host the season finale in Riyadh means the event now shifts to Indian Wells, likely a boost for attendance but a financial burden the WTA will have to absorb on its own rather than lean on Saudi funding. 

The tour’s private equity sponsorship deal with CVC, signed in 2023 for $150 million over five years, will conclude in 2027 in return for a 20% share of the commercial business. That alone strips away close to $30 million a year that has quietly propped up the balance sheet. 

A new leader inherits a business badly in need of repair

The person now left to fix this is Valerie Camillo, who stepped in as chair at the end of last year after Steve Simon’s long tenure. Insiders believe she will be in charge of real spending reductions in the year ahead. Much of that money has been invested in leveling the pay scale with the ATP at co-branded tournaments, such as Madrid and Miami, where women have been clocking in at about 40 percent of what the men are earning, and the tour has been taking a hit on its own war chest. 

It has left the WTA in a very strange situation, as things on court have been spectacular, with tough competition at the Majors, breakout storylines, and genuine unpredictability in tournaments. WTA even has a new world No.1 in the form of Elena Rybakina, which will be in effect from the updated rankings on Monday, ending the historic reign of Aryna Sabalenka. As Briggs reported, the problem is not tennis but the business behind the court and how long it can sustain.