The WTA's year-end championships are moving to Charlotte, North Carolina, starting in 2027, it was announced Wednesday, with the tour's headquarters also relocating there from St. Petersburg, Florida.
The WTA Finals will be held at the Spectrum Center, home of the NBA's Hornets, from 2027 to 2029. With a capacity of approximately 19,000, the arena has hosted a tennis exhibition event the past two seasons.
Wednesday's reveal ends several years of turmoil and inconsistency around the event and its location. In July, the WTA announced that the year-end tournament would be moving from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- despite one year remaining on its initial agreement -- to Indian Wells, California, for 2026.
The WTA said it underwent a "competitive global process" to determine its next host. In a call with reporters Tuesday, WTA chairperson Valerie Camillo acknowledged recent reports about the organization's troubled financial state and said the decision to leave Riyadh early had proved costly and played a role in determining the next host. The Telegraph reported last week that the WTA is poised to reach $23 million in operational losses this season and would have only $15 million on hand by year's end.
"2026 is a year of transition for the WTA," Camillo said. "We are doing the normal belt tightening you would expect of any business while also absorbing the unexpected cost of relocating the WTA Finals to Indian Wells. What's most important to know is that we have a clear path to deliver consistent sustainable financial performance in 2027 and beyond supported by strong revenue and audience growth."
Camillo said the deal with Charlotte came together in "less than six months" and was unlike any the tour had done previously around the WTA Finals. Instead of using a licensing fee model and relying on outside promoters to organize the event, the WTA will have operational control.
"We're not going to do everything ourselves, but we're taking control of this event," Camillo said. "We're taking control of the creation of the revenues and the controlling of the expenses and the delivery of the entire thing. And that allows us to control our own destiny."
She said many details of the broader deal are still in the works, including a timeline for the WTA's move and the headquarters' new location in Charlotte. The WTA Finals schedule will be altered to accommodate the Hornets' schedule and will be reduced from eight days to five.
Camillo said players would be consulted before anything is finalized.
Featuring the top eight singles players and doubles teams, this year's WTA Finals are scheduled for Nov. 8-15 at the same Indian Wells venue that hosts the 1000-level BNP Paribas Open in March.
The agreement to play in Saudi Arabia had been controversial even before it was formally announced because of the country's record on human rights. In a statement earlier this summer, the WTA and Saudi Tennis Federation said they "mutually agreed on the conclusion of the hosting arrangement."
Camillo said the vision was to make the WTA Finals "the Super Bowl of women's sports," complete with a fan fest near the arena and becoming an "annual gathering for women's tennis, women's sports and women's sports business." She explained that was part of the rationale in moving the WTA headquarters.
"If you're looking to build the Super Bowl, you're going to have to have a significant talent base there to help bring it to life," Camillo said.
In addition to providing some stability to the organization's signature event, the WTA confirmed that Charlotte's involvement also provides the city with a path to hosting a 500-level tournament in the future. Will Pitts, CEO of the Charlotte Sports Foundation, said that was something the city wanted.
"In order to deliver that, we'll have to build a first-class facility to host such an event," Pitts said. "And so we've got a lot of work to do ahead of us, but we're excited about the prospect of that opportunity and we're going to continue as such to move forward accordingly."