WTA to stage season-ending Finals in Charlotte from 2027
The Women's Tennis Association will stage its season-ending WTA Finals in Charlotte, North Carolina, for at least three years from 2027, WTA Chair Valerie Camillo said. The tour announced the event will be played at the Spectrum Centre and will include a fan festival at the nearby convention center.
The Finals, which feature the season's top eight singles players and doubles teams, will be operated by the WTA itself rather than under an outside-promoter arrangement. The organisation described the new model as a public-private partnership involving the city, county, state and local corporate community.
Camillo told reporters the tour intended to assume greater control of the staging and investment in the event, saying: "The WTA will be taking greater ownership and control of the event and investing alongside our partners," and that it wanted to build the Finals into the "Super Bowl of women's sports." Financial terms of Charlotte's package were not disclosed ahead of a planned announcement by local partners, which Camillo said represented a "meaningful investment" that gave the WTA confidence to commit to the city.
The Charlotte agreement follows the WTA's decision to relocate the November 2026 Finals to Indian Wells, California, after ending an agreement under which Riyadh had hosted the event with the backing of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The tour has said the 2027 move to Charlotte will run for a minimum three-year period.
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 $23 million in 2026 and cited the loss of revenue associated with the Saudi Finals deal as a major contributor.
Camillo described 2026 as a transitional year, saying the tour was tightening spending while absorbing the unexpected cost of moving the Finals to Indian Wells. She added the WTA had a "clear path" to consistent and sustainable financial performance from 2027, backed by revenue and audience growth, and said relocating to Indian Wells was a strategic decision that would help lay the groundwork for the Charlotte plan when asked whether remaining in Riyadh for a third year would have been financially easier.
The WTA has not yet set prize money for the 2027 Finals. Camillo said equal prize money remained an important goal but that the tour was considering alternatives including a profit-sharing model with players, adding: "We want this event to be built together with the players," she said. "Why stop at equal prize money?" Charlotte Sports Foundation Chief Executive Will Pitts said the city hoped the Finals could eventually help establish a longer-term WTA 500 tournament, although he said that would require construction of a suitable first-class tennis facility, and Camillo said the WTA plans to establish a greater operational presence in Charlotte as it builds the event.
The immediate next staging of the season-ending event will be the relocated November 2026 WTA Finals at Indian Wells, California.
