(Bloomberg) – Saudi Arabia has secured the hosting of the Women’s Tennis Association’s final tournament of the season, the latest sign that the kingdom is putting sports and entertainment at the center of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s economic transformation plan.
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Riyadh will host the next three WTA Finals as part of a partnership between the WTA and the Saudi Tennis Federation.
Saudi Arabia will pay a record $15.25 million to the eight singles players and eight doubles teams who qualify for November's tournament, with further increases planned over the next two years.
A statement from the WTA, the main organizing body for women's professional tennis, said Saudi Arabia had agreed to support extensive investments in the future development of women's tennis.
Saudi Arabia is betting big on global sports such as golf and soccer as part of its efforts to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons by becoming a hub for future entertainment, travel and industry.
The company has already lured top international sports stars with wads of cash and recently signaled its intention to become a major force in tennis.
Read more: Saudi Arabia is splurging on sports. Is it working?: QuickTake
In February, Saudi Arabia signed a five-year deal with the ATP Tour to sponsor the men's official rankings and is in talks with the organization about a potential $2 billion investment, Bloomberg News reported.
Last year, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund also purchased a license to host the next generation ATP Finals, which will focus on young players, from 2023 to 2027. Several top male and female pros held an exhibition in Riyadh in late 2023.
Securing the WTA event means Saudi Arabia is doubling down on its tennis pursuits and is ready to dig deep to underpin its ambitions despite facing domestic financial constraints. It shows.
Read more: Saudi Crown Prince MBS's $100 billion FDI quest flops
The news raised concerns among some who question Saudi Arabia's history of human rights abuses. Human Rights Watch said it had asked the WTA for information on what due diligence was carried out before deciding who would advance to the finals. HRW said on its website that the federation had not responded as of Friday.
Tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova spoke out against holding the WTA's “crowning tournament” in Riyadh in an op-ed for the Washington Post in January, arguing against the possibility of hosting the WTA's “crowning tournament” in Riyadh. It said the move was a “significant setback.”
The country's laws against homosexuality were one of the key concerns.
WTA Ventures guarantees that everyone is welcome in Saudi Arabia, regardless of sexual orientation or religion, The Telegraph reported on Thursday. Marina Storti, chief executive officer of WTA Ventures, told the newspaper that same-sex couples who want to share a hotel room “will be accommodated.”
“Everyone will feel very welcome. Our country is moving forward,” said Alij Mutabaghani, president of the Saudi Tennis Federation and the first female president of the Saudi Sports Federation.
At the grassroots level, the number of Saudi tennis clubs has more than doubled in the past five years, and the sport is equally open to men and women, the WTA said in a statement.
Read more: ATP Tour opens to Saudi Arabia, partners to revitalize tennis
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