Players Call for WTA Tour to Allow Appearance Fees
Posted on March 17, 2005World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport is leading the call for the WTA Tour to officially allow tournaments to offer appearance fees to entice players to enter tournaments.
Currently the ATP allows tournaments, all except the Masters Series events which players are "required" to play, to offer players appearance fees.
Official or not, the top women do currently receive under-the-table appearance fees, such as the ones doled out by oil-rich Middle Eastern events and for Maria Sharapova's annual money-raking tour of Japan.
"It happens all the time...every WTA CEO has known what transpires," Davenport told Reuters. "Our tour would be better served to do something like the men have, where you have to play certain big tournaments and with the smaller tournaments you open it up to whomever else they want to pay."
WTA Players' Council representative Nathalie Dechy told Reuters the WTA needs to keep up with the times and sanction the appearance fees which occur regardless.
"It's clear that it exists in men's tennis and in golf," Dechy said. "I don't know why there isn't anything official on the women's side. I know it exists because if you are a small tournament and you want a big star to come, the only possibility is to pay something more. Why don't we just change the rules to be more clear?"
WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott, a former ATP employee, says he is unwilling to follow the men and sanction the appearances fees and give up control of where the top players play.
"We have a player commitment system that is working," Scott told Reuters. "As long as they are playing where we need them to play, I'm perfectly happy for them to maximize their revenue through their commercial arrangements. I don't see any reason to change it."
Currently the ATP allows tournaments, all except the Masters Series events which players are "required" to play, to offer players appearance fees.
Official or not, the top women do currently receive under-the-table appearance fees, such as the ones doled out by oil-rich Middle Eastern events and for Maria Sharapova's annual money-raking tour of Japan.
"It happens all the time...every WTA CEO has known what transpires," Davenport told Reuters. "Our tour would be better served to do something like the men have, where you have to play certain big tournaments and with the smaller tournaments you open it up to whomever else they want to pay."
WTA Players' Council representative Nathalie Dechy told Reuters the WTA needs to keep up with the times and sanction the appearance fees which occur regardless.
"It's clear that it exists in men's tennis and in golf," Dechy said. "I don't know why there isn't anything official on the women's side. I know it exists because if you are a small tournament and you want a big star to come, the only possibility is to pay something more. Why don't we just change the rules to be more clear?"
WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott, a former ATP employee, says he is unwilling to follow the men and sanction the appearances fees and give up control of where the top players play.
"We have a player commitment system that is working," Scott told Reuters. "As long as they are playing where we need them to play, I'm perfectly happy for them to maximize their revenue through their commercial arrangements. I don't see any reason to change it."