Charlotte to host WTA Finals for next three years

The tournament leaves Saudi Arabia amid sportswashing accusations and ongoing conflict in the Middle East

Formula One / 16 September 2026 Monaco to host Formula One sprint race for the first time in 2027 16 September 2026 Men’s boxing / 16 September 2026 Benn offered chance to fight for Bentley’s WBO middleweight belt 16 September 2026 Men’s football / 16 September 2026 Man City boss says VAR controversy ‘poor’ ahead of League Cup tie 16 September 2026 Men’s Football / 15 September 2026 Carrick urges Man Utd to use derby frustration as fuel for League Cup tie 15 September 2026 THE WTA Finals, the elite season-ending event in women’s tennis, will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the next three years in a move that organisers hope will create “the Super Bowl for women’s sports.”

The tournament will be played at the home of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, the WTA and the Charlotte Sports Foundation announced on Wednesday.

The year’s top eight singles players and doubles teams qualify for the event, which is usually held in November.

“Our ambition is for the WTA Finals to be not only the premier championship in women’s tennis, but one of the defining global events in women sports,” WTA chair Valerie Camillo said. “We want to create the Super Bowl for women’s sports.

“Audiences are growing, investment is growing, female athletes are increasingly at the centre of sports and culture around the world. And women’s tennis has helped lead and define that progress for more than 50 years. And we believe our biggest championship should reflect the scale of this moment,” Camillo added.

Camillo called it a “minimum three-year deal.” She added: “We’ll see what goes on beyond that.”

The announcement comes at a time of financial difficulty for the WTA after it announced in July that it was opting out of the final year of a three-year hosting arrangement with Saudi Arabia to move this year’s Finals to Indian Wells, California.

There were concerns about going back to Saudi Arabia due to military conflicts in the Middle East.

Camillo noted that “2026 is a year of transition for the WTA” and that “we are doing the normal belt-tightening you would expect in any business while also absorbing the unexpected cost of relocating the WTA finals to Indian Wells.

“What’s most important to know is that we have a clear path to deliver consistent, sustainable financial performance in 2027 and beyond,” she added.

With Indian Wells now set to host only once, Charlotte will become the eighth different venue for the Finals since 2018.

The WTA did not announce any prize money figures for the upcoming tournaments and could struggle to match the eye-watering sums that were on offer in Saudi Arabia.

Elena Rybakina collected £3.91 million for winning the 2025 WTA Finals in Riyadh after going 5-0 at the event. The WTA said that was the largest payout in the history of women’s sports. Aryna Sabalenka earned £2.02 million as runner-up.

Coco Gauff won the 2024 finals in Riyadh. The tournament attracted criticism from human rights groups and former players, who accused Saudi Arabia of using the event to sportswash its record on women’s rights.

Former tennis champions Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert opposed the move, arguing that women’s tennis should not be used to promote Saudi Arabia.

The criticism continued during the 2025 Finals, with BBC Sport reporting that critics viewed the event as an attempt to gain legitimacy and divert attention from human rights concerns.

The WTA and Saudi officials defended the partnership, arguing that hosting major women’s sport can help expand participation and engagement for women and girls in the country.

Campaign group Humans Rights Watch said there was no evidence that the WTA’s presence is improving women’s rights in Saudi, pointing to an “absence of action” over the treatment of women imprisoned for campaigning for reform.

The partnership will extend beyond the Finals. The WTA will also relocate its global headquarters from St Petersburg, Florida, to Charlotte, as part of the deal.

And there’s a plan to bring a WTA 500 tournament to Charlotte after 2029.

“The WTA has always owned the WTA finals, but now going forward, we’re going to operate it too,” Camillo said. “We’re taking control of the creation of the revenues and the controlling of the expenses and the delivery of the entire thing.”

Asked if there was a desire to eventually merge with the ATP Finals — the men’s season-ending event — Camillo said “there hasn’t been an in-depth conversation about merging” the two tournaments.

“I think that when we create our ambition, people are going to want to merge with us on this event and many more,” she added.

The move to the Hornets arena during the NBA season means that the Finals will be condensed from eight to five days.

That means the traditional schedule of two singles and two doubles matches per day could become four singles and four doubles matches per day.

“We are exploring a series of alternate formats,” Camillo said.

The Charlotte Bobcats Arena has already hosted high-profile tennis exhibition events in recent years. The stadium can host up to 20,200 spectators, making it a suitable venue for a major WTA event.

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