Women’s Tennis Association CEO Portia Archer has long been a primetime player in the sports world. She joined the top women’s tennis tour last August after a run as chief operating officer of the NBA G League, a developmental league for top NBA prospects. In collaboration with Executive Chair Steve Simon and WTA Ventures CEO Marina Storti, she’s responsible for advancing the Hologic WTA Tour’s business strategy and operations, with a focus on breaking new barriers for the sport and elevating the tour’s global platform.
The NAB Show Daily caught up with Archer via email ahead of her NAB Show fireside chat Monday afternoon (April 7), part of the Sports Summit. She’ll be interviewed by Tennis Channel analyst CoCo Vandeweghe at 2:45 p.m. in West Hall (W224-225).
NAB Show Daily: The WTA has been instrumental in expanding the reach of women’s tennis. What are some of the biggest opportunities and challenges in growing the sport globally?
Portia Archer: Tennis is a hugely popular sport with 51 events across six continents and a global audience over 1 billion, which exceeds the reach of the next five largest women’s sports leagues combined. At the same time, we operate in a competitive marketplace, so we need to stand out to retain our position.
We launched our new brand identity in February with clear ambitions to strengthen our global identity as the leader in women’s sports, showcase our outstanding product, attract new partners, new markets and capture the imagination of new fans and media.
NAB Show Daily: How is the WTA using technology to enhance engagement and bring women’s tennis to a wider audience?
PA: Fans of women’s sports are younger on average than fans of male sports: Seventy-three percent are 18-44 vs. 62% for men’s sports, according to Wasserman. Fans are also superengaged — women’s sports’ popularity grew by 35% in North America alone, more in other regions.
We’ve invested heavily in building our digital platforms, with a focus on growing social media engagement and more player-driven content. As a result, followers to the WTA’s official channels rose 25% to 6.4 million over 2024.
In parallel, we are engaging with fans via different media, including fantasy games and live streams via the free WTA Unlocked service. As a result, we have seen our TV and streaming audience grow from 316 million in 2014 to over 1 billion in 2024, a growth trajectory we hope to continue in years to come.
NAB Show Daily: With the rise of streaming and direct-to-consumer platforms, how is the WTA adapting its media rights strategy?
PA: Created in March of 2023, WTA Ventures is the commercial arm of the WTA, driving the commercial growth and media rights strategy of the business. We have delivered significant growth, including a 24% increase in revenue in the first full year of WTA Ventures. This increase is driven by the launch of a new strategy and a series of deals with media partners and sponsors, plus the success of the first edition of the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
NAB Show Daily: How is the WTA continuing to push for equal prize money and more high-profile broadcast opportunities for its athletes?
PA: The 2024 prize pot was $212 million, a record amount for the WTA and a growth of 15% from 2023. Last year, prize money for the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF was a record $15.25 million, with singles champion Coco Gauff taking home $4.8 million, the largest purse in the history of women’s professional tennis and in women’s sport overall.
We still have some distance to travel to achieve equal pay across the board; however, we have committed to a $400 million increase in player compensation and set out a pathway to pay equality at our major WTA events by 2027. This includes a calendar to provide greater stability and visibility to the tour.
