The season-ending WTA Finals will be staged in Charlotte, North Carolina for at least three years from 2027, the governing body for the women’s tour announced on Wednesday.
The 2026 edition will take place in Indian Wells, California this November after the WTA ended an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which had previously hosted the event in Riyadh.
The WTA has struggled to find a permanent home for its flagship end-of-year tournament in recent seasons, with the PIF partnership coming to a premature end earlier this year. A planned 10-year sojourn in Shenzhen, China ended after just one year while there have been six hosts in seven editions, and the event has often struggled to fill stadia.
WTA chair Valerie Camillo said the organisation wanted to turn the tournament into “the Super Bowl of women’s sports”, while she conceded 2026 was “a year of transition” and “belt-tightening” as it tries to shore up a fragile financial position.
The Telegraph reported last week that internal WTA projections showed the tour could run out of cash next year and move into debt by autumn 2027 if its spending pattern continued.
The report said the WTA expected operating losses of $23m in 2026 and cited the loss of revenue associated with the Saudi Finals deal as a major contributor.
The end of the Saudi deal was partly influenced by the knock-on effects of the Middle Eastern conflict between the US, Israel and Iran, but also connected to the PIF’s decision to decrease its spending on many sporting events, including the LIV Golf circuit.
Camillo said the WTA would operate the event in Charlotte itself rather than rely on the type of outside-promoter arrangement used in the past, describing the new structure as a public-private partnership involving the city, county, state and local corporate community.
She said: “The WTA will be taking greater ownership and control of the event and investing alongside our partners.
“We are not going to do everything ourselves, but we are taking control of this event, of the creation of the revenue and the controlling of the expenses. And that allows us to control our own destiny.”
Camillo said the WTA had a “clear path” to consistent and sustainable financial performance from 2027, backed by revenue and audience growth. Asked whether remaining in Riyadh for a third year would have been financially easier, Camillo said relocating the event to Indian Wells was a strategic decision that would help lay the groundwork for the Charlotte plan.
The WTA has not yet set prize money for the 2027 Finals, but this year’s edition will have a prize pot of $10m (£7.4m) – $5.5m (£4.1m) less than the record amount Elena Rybakina took home for winning the 2025 event.
Camillo said equal prize money remained an important goal, but added that the tour was considering alternatives including a profit-sharing model with players.
“We want this event to be built together with the players,” she said. “Why stop at equal prize money?”
The Finals, featuring the season’s top eight singles players and doubles teams, will be played at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center, with a fan festival planned at the nearby convention center.
The WTA will also move its headquarters from St Petersburg in Florida to Charlotte.
Additional reporting by Reuters
