Rhetoric Increases on Eve of WTA Vote

Nearly everyone contending for control of women’s tennis stresses how much respect everyone has for one another, how well they get along, how there is no alphabet-soup feud.

So why is rhetoric increasing on the eve of the WTA board of directors’ vote on whether to move its season-ending championship from Munich to Staples Center?

Bob Kain, president and chief operating officer of International Management Group, which represents athletes but also runs and promotes some tennis tournaments, fired off a letter to the board, detailing his opposition, but said it was not about a fight between IMG and potential championship promoters Octagon and Anschutz Entertainment Group.

Tim Leiweke, president of AEG and Staples Center, sent a message to the board too, making his own last-minute push.

One of Kain’s objections is his belief there already are too many women’s events in Southern California--three, two with IMG ties. The closest one to Staples Center is in Manhattan Beach, but Leiweke said he’d offered to move that event to AEG’s facility in Carson, which is under construction.

“We have agreed to protect any downside risk on tickets by providing a guarantee,” Leiweke said. “It’s unfounded that the WTA Championships could have a negative impact on an event that just received an offer with a minimum guarantee that is equal to, or better than, any moneys they have made over the past three years on an average.”

That offer has not been accepted by IMG. Kain said discussions are continuing, and should the board approve the move today in Miami, that would not be the end of it.

“We’ll keep fighting,” he said.

It was unclear if he meant legal action against the WTA. The vote today is expected to be close.

“If the board ultimately votes in favor of it, any additional fighting that occurs after that fact, the people that lose are the fans and the players,” Leiweke said. “Whoever wants to continue that battle, I hope they can look the players in the eye and justify their actions because it’s the players that would [lose out] in this deal if this gets into a legal battle.”

Said Kain: “Our whole issue is tournament ownership rights. The WTA rules basically say 125 miles.... There are already three women’s tournaments in this 125-mile area between La Costa, Manhattan Beach and Indian Wells.

“There’s none in New York--other than the U.S. Open--but no WTA event, none in Chicago, none in Philadelphia, none in Dallas, none in Boston, none in Detroit.”

Octagon President Phil de Picciotto countered, saying, “A market isn’t defined by geography. It’s defined by time, by distance and by the product you are offering.”

Indian Wells officials have said they do not feel there is a problem with another women’s event in Southern California. La Costa tournament director Raquel Giscafre said there was a potential conflict, but her event is held outdoors at a destination resort in early August and actually overlaps with Manhattan Beach by one day.

Leiweke, touting Staples Center’s appeal, said: “We’ve had the Grammys, U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the NBA and NHL All-Star games. Why wouldn’t the WTA Championships want to be held in that same light? And isn’t that good? Does the NBA All-Star game take away from ticket sales, sponsorship or media and fan interest in the Lakers or Clippers? Of course not, it only adds to it.”