ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The WTA’s audience soared to new heights during the 2024 season as fans around the world watched the drama unfold across more than 50 tournaments on the Hologic WTA Tour. After passing the milestone of 1 billion for the first time in 2023, the WTA’s cumulative global audience rose by 10% last year to reach a record 1.1 billion on broadcast and streaming platforms worldwide.
The first edition of the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF attracted the biggest audience of any year-end finals in WTA history, with a global audience of 78 million, up 160% against the audience for the previous year’s event. The surge in viewing reflects the positive impact of the return of WTA coverage to audiences in China, including through a one-year deal for live coverage of the tournament on China’s leading sports broadcaster, CCTV-5, and other services operated by China Media Group. Even when China is excluded from the audience figures, viewing of the WTA Finals across the rest of the world jumped by a substantial 23% including strong increases in Italy, Spain and Latin America.
Analysis also provided further details about the profile of the WTA’s global audience and the value that the WTA brings to commercial partners. With two-thirds of the global audience aged under 45, WTA fans have a higher than average income compared to sports fans as a whole. In addition, WTA fans show greater engagement with sponsor brands, with 59% saying that they take notice of who sponsors the sports events they watch, versus 47% for sports fans in general.
Fans also turned out in growing numbers to watch Hologic WTA Tour events during 2024, with on-site attendance increasing by 15% to 3.5 million. This was matched by growing engagement on social media as followers to the WTA’s official channels rose 25% to 6.4 million.
Marina Storti, Chief Executive of WTA Ventures, said: “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. To reach a cumulative total audience of 1.1 billion is a remarkable achievement highlighting the drama and excitement delivered by the WTA’s brilliant players. We’re especially proud to see the strong performance of the first edition of the WTA Finals Riyadh, which attracted the biggest Finals audience in WTA history. As the 2025 season builds, our aim is to keep elevating women’s tennis, deepen engagement with fans, and make the WTA a must-watch for even more people around the world.”
Note: Analysis of the WTA’s broadcast audience was provided by leading data specialists YouGov.
