Steve Simon says he would like to see a female become the next CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) after an organizational restructure was announced on Tuesday.
Simon, who has been the head of the WTA since 2015, has dismissed calls for his resignation by confirming that he will remain as a senior figure. Under the changes, whoever becomes CEO will have to report to Simon, who is now executive chairman of the WTA. The CEO of WTA Ventures, the commercial enterprise with CVC Capital Partners that was formed this year, will also be reporting to Simon who will remain as its chair. However, the position of WTA president has been discontinued with Micky Lawler leaving the organization to “pursue new opportunities”.
“My focus will go to, obviously, governance. Managing the respective boards and councils. Working directly with the CEOs of the daily business of the tour. I’ll be able to spend more time on the geopolitical issues that remain very prevalent to the sport and do affect the business,” Simon said in a video interview with The Associated Press and BBC. “I will spend more time working on the strategic direction of the organization and the challenges that face the organization.”
The WTA states that the changes have been in the works for months and were not made in response to a series of criticisms from their players about concerns on the Tour. Earlier this year, a letter co-signed by several top names was sent to Simon about various issues. According to The Athletic, the letter made requests for a review into the need for higher pay on the Tour, adjustments to scheduling to help support players, expanded childcare and calls for a member of the PTPA to be present on the WTA Player’s Council.
On top of that, the WTA came under fire over their management of the season-ending championships in Cancun with those participating raising concerns about the playing conditions. At the time of the tournament, Simon declined to speak with several media outlets about the situation and former No.1 Martina Navratilova questioned his future as CEO.
“We started these discussions (about changing the WTA leadership structure) in the summer time, so they’re not tied to anything that happened in Cancun or … the perception that it hasn’t been the easiest of years,” said Simon.
Simon says the new structure enables him to ‘deal with more high-level issues in the sport.’ One of those will be where the WTA Finals will be staged next year with Saudi Arabia appearing to be a strong contender. Ubitennis has been previously told by those familiar with the situation that it is highly likely that the Middle Eastern nation will host the event and a visit to the county to inspect possible venues had taken place in recent weeks by a senior WTA figure. However, the WTA is still insisting that a decision is yet to be made.
“I do think it’s in the best interests of the organisation because it’s grown so much over these last eight years. The combined role – you’re going to start missing some things, there’s only so many hours in the day.” He said of the changes.
No timeline has been given about how long it will take to find a new CEO. The global executive search firm Korn Ferry is helping find suitable candidates with the WTA leaning more towards a female CEO.
“I think our preference is that we do find a female candidate – I think it makes sense. I think it would be in the best long-term interests of the organisation, yes.” Simon commented.
According to the BBC, the WTA has lost $31m (£24.7m) in the past two financial years but has since received an investment of $150m (£119.5m) from CVC Capital Partners.
