In a landmark moment for women’s tennis, the WTA has signed what is believed to be the biggest sponsorship deal in the history of female sport with Mercedes Benz.
The WTA today announced that the German car manufacturing giant would become their ‘premier partner’, affirming the tour’s status as the biggest and most marketable female sport in the world.
While both sides of the alliance are keeping schtum about the figures, it is understood the deal is worth up to half a billion dollars over the next decade.
Women’s tennis pioneer Billie Jean King, who was in attendance at the announcement of the deal in the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart, said: ‘Seeing a global brand like Mercedes-Benz stand with us sends a message that echoes far beyond tennis.
‘It says women’s sport matters and our athletes deserve to be seen, heard, and given a global platform to shine and inspire.’
A blue-chip deal such as this is especially significant when you consider the WTA spent 12 years trying and failing to find a title sponsor after Sony Ericsson’s deal ended in 2010.
American medical technology brand Hologic came on board in 2022 build this Mercedes agreement blows that out of the water.
Mercedes-Benz has been announced as the new major sponsor of the WTA on the heels of inking a deal with one of its biggest stars, Coco Gauff
It all adds up to a clean bill of health for women’s tennis in the post-Serena Williams era.
The emergence of Coco Gauff as a global superstar has certainly helped, and on Monday of this week the 21-year-old American became a global ambassador for Mercedes, making this WTA deal part of a double investment into tennis from the German company.
Gauff last week topped Sportico’s list of the highest paid female athletes in the world for the third year in a row, with £23million banked in 2025. Tennis players made seven out of the top 10 on that list.