Female tennis stars offered '80/20 split' with male players in ATP and WTA merger | Tennis

The women’s tennis circuit will only receive a 20% share of assets if it joins forces with the men’s circuit.

Talks about an alliance between the ATP and WTA have been rife in recent months. And the tours are preparing to vote on a commercial merger.

But the men will initially benefit from an 80-20 split of existing assets and projected growth, according to The Telegraph.

Although participation is not ideal, ATP made significantly more money than its counterpart. His income was listed as £238 million in archived 2022 accounts, while the WTA received £90 million

However, the respective presidents of the ATP and WTA will emphasize that this number is a starting point. An important clause will allow tours to split “synergy windfalls” 50/50.

This means that any extra profit outside of projected growth would be split equally between the men’s and women’s circuits.

The WTA expects to see this revenue synergy within a few years of the merger, as the two tours will be able to share resources in their commercial and marketing departments.

But probably its biggest selling point will be a joint package of TV and data rights. This will not be possible in the early years of a potential merger.

The WTA’s current deal with Stats Perform ends in 2026 for broadcast and 2029 for data, meaning they will not be able to benefit from combined rights sales while they are tied to the existing deal.

But the merger will have to be voted on during the next season-ending championships, which will take place in Riyadh for the WTA and in Turin for the ATP.

Board members from each tour aren’t the only ones who will have a say. On the men’s side, Masters 1000 events will also need to approve details.

In the meantime, the WTA will have to respond to the CVC. The private equity firm bought a 20% stake in its business operations two years ago.

Earlier this year, the ATP and WTA reportedly hired an external consultant to evaluate merger options.

In a joint statement shared at the time, they said they were “exploring discussions that would allow us to leverage assets across both Tours through the creation of a new joint commercial entity, delivering greater value to players, tournaments and fans while remaining separate tours.”