WTA kept touching higher ceilings with its rapidly growing popularity. Chief Brand Officer of the organizing body, Sarah Swanson, revealed what lay at the crux of it.

In the April 28th episode of the Front Office Sports podcast, Swanson opened up about the global impact of tennis. She touched on every aspect of it, from leadership to monetary value.

“I think without question we're the number one women's sport,” said the officer. “We have 10 of the top 20 highest paid athletes (who) are tennis players. We're leading in spaces like maternity and women's health."

Topping Forbes’ 2025 highest-paid female athletes list, Coco Gauff earned $33 million, ahead of Aryna Sabalenka ($30 million) and Iga Swiatek ($25.1 million). Notably, 10 of the 20 athletes featured were part of the WTA Tour.

The WTA’s leadership position is undoubtedly sitting at the pinnacle of success, and the prize pool is a great example.

According to the WTA Tennis official website, WTA players earned a record-breaking $249 million in prize money in 2025, which was 13 percent more than the 2024 figure. ($221 million).

"We have a prize pool that is the largest across the board," Swanson further added. "Our WTA finals winner takes home more than $5 million per week across that week in the WTA finals."

While building a legacy, Swanson and WTA opened the doors to bigger deals and sponsorships. Mercedes-Benz became the premier partner of the WTA Tour, committing up to $50 million (£37.5 million) annually to women’s tennis for as long as 10 years.

Bigger paychecks mean bigger endorsements and greater global fame. All these factors pull in a larger worldwide audience.

How WTA’s Global Audience Increased Over the Years

In 2024, the WTA Tour saw a rise in viewership, as fans followed the action across over 50 tournaments on the Hologic WTA Tour. According to the sources, 1 billion viewers for the first time tuned in 2023.

The next season, the global audience grew by 10% to a record 1.1 billion across broadcast and streaming platforms. And in 2025, the attendance at WTA Tour events surpassed 4 million.

It marked the highest in Tour history and an increase of more than 500,000 year over year. In the 2024 Hologic WTA Tour events, after witnessing a sharp rise, the fan attendance increased by 15% to 3.5 million.

 “It is great to see that the WTA is connecting with fans around the world in record numbers, providing further confirmation of the growing impact of women’s tennis," said Marina Storti, Chief Executive of WTA Ventures, in February 2025.

The WTA Tour expanded its global digital footprint as well, with the social media following jumping by 28% to 8.2 million.

What are your thoughts on WTA's impact on the global audience? Drop in the comments.

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Written by

Deblina Roy

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar