Addressing critical needs: WTA Ventures CEO Marina Storti

0:05Welcome to Addressing Critical Needs, PIF Sponsorships in Action, a podcast series from leaders. Over the course of this series, we're delving into the sponsorship and partnership strategy that's been developed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund to support its increasing activities across the world of sport. In particular, we'll examine the ways in which PIF's sponsorship portfolio across sports, like tennis, golf, football and motorsport, and series like the WTA ATP, Formula E and E1 has been created, and the wider aims underpinning the partnerships. As you'll hear, the sponsorships are being brought to life by working with partner rights holders to address critical needs within individual sports or more broadly across society.

0:49In this episode, we'll hear from Marina Storty, CEO of WTA Ventures, the commercial arm of the WTA. I spoke to Marina in mid-December 2025 in a wide-ranging conversation that covered the PIF's transformative partnership with the series that has allowed for the implementation of an industry-leading maternity fund. We also cover the WTA's approach to branding and to digital growth and the recently signed record-breaking sponsorship deal with Mercedes-Benz. So Marina Storty, CEO of WTA Ventures, thank you so much for being with us. Marina, we are talking at the end of the year. It's school report season.

1:31I don't know whether you've received your school reports for your kids yet, but I wondered whether you could reflect on your own work this year or in 2025, Marina, and what grade would you give yourself? Well, thank you for having me, first of all. A pleasure to be here. So it has been a huge year for us. And I always think as a CEO, I'll only ever be as good as the team that surrounds me. And I have to say this year, I couldn't have asked more from them and collectively will give us a five star. We set up to turn the WTA into a true leader in global entertainment and global sport. We have a mission to fuel the growth of women's tennis and really be the stage, the global stage, where women's tennis shines.

2:21And I feel this year we really started to see concrete signs that our strategy is working. And we have incredible momentum as well ahead of us. This year, from launching the new WTA brand at the end of February to continue the huge growth in social media, we've seen a continuation of the growth in followers. And we're now the fastest growing property in social media for both tennis and women's sports. So I'm very proud of that. But I think what's great to see is that it's not just the reach that we are growing, but also the engagement. So we nearly double video views in our social channels this year.

3:00And since we started WTA Ventures, it's grown five times. Wow. So really proud also of all the partnerships that we've announced this year, both in terms of sponsorships and media rights. You know, it was the first year of our new Rolex partnership this year. We've also done deals with a tennis channel in the US, a really groundbreaking extension of our partnership, as well as signing a new partner in Poland, Will It Evans Sports. So I would say a strong report card and yeah, proud of all the achievements. Yeah, very good. And you mentioned the team there. And when we spoke sort of 14, 15 months ago, you were talking about the importance of building out that team.

3:42Lots of hires into WTA Ventures and WTA in general over the last year. Is the team complete? Are you happy with what you've got? We have now key talent in all of our strategic priorities. So it was great to see that complete this year um but you know we'd have to obviously continue to grow as we expand but um for now i think i've got the full team and then we'll revisit that next year so as you mentioned there so many achievements this year it's definitely been a very objectively clearly it's been a very positive year for women's tennis and for the wta you mentioned the rebrand obviously building out your team amazing growth on social media um amazing deals you didn't even mention the mercedes deal which was announced just last week.

4:28What do you think, if you come to look back on 2025, maybe in five years' time, and you're reflecting on 2025, what do you think the one moment will be that you remember this year by? There have been quite actually a lot of big moments, very special moments this year. But if I had to kind of pick one defining theme, it's really about the new brand. It is the foundation of our strategy. And there are kind of three moments this year where it really came to life for me how special it was. The first one was being at Indian Wells with Hans Jabir on court to unveil the new brand in front of all of our fans.

5:11And just to be at one of the most iconic venues in tennis and then seeing Hans speak so personally and authentically about what the new brand meant to her was really special. sure. And then the second moment was actually later on in the year, in October, it was in China. And I was meeting Yuku, our media partners at their offices, the Alibaba offices, a huge, huge headquarters there, big buildings. And as we stepped into the site, they surprised us by lighting up all of their huge LED screens around the site with WTA branding. Oh, wow. So it's really, for me, kind of a demonstration just of our global reach, but also just the vibrant market that we're building in China.

6:00Yeah. Yeah. Always very impressive when people do that. It's just a small thing, isn't it? It really made us feel so valued. Yeah. And it was just amazing to see that. And then the third moment was at the Mercedes-Benz Museum, stepping in with my team and Billie Jinkin was there and just see the WTA brand just proudly displayed next to one of the most iconic and admired brands in the world. And it really did bring it to life for us that this is a brand that belongs on the global stage. Mm-hmm. We'll get to that. Remind me to talk to you about the aesthetic of the Mercedes announcement, like talking about the rebrand as one of your big moments.

6:41I've got an inkling that you're really into aesthetic, Marina. But anyway, we'll get there. What have you learned about being a CEO this year? Yeah, for me, we talked about the importance of having a good team around you and definitely reinforced that this year. For me, having a good team or a great team, I mean, it isn't just about their talent, but really I learned this year about the importance of a relentless shared belief that if everyone in your team shares that vision, believes in the vision, believes in what you're doing and shares that really strong belief, then suddenly things that might have felt too ambitious, they now feel almost non-negotiable.

7:22and I see that as a real strategic asset for a team to have that really strong belief and once that's unleashed the results are extraordinary and then you see things like the Mercedes-Benz deal. The Mercedes-Benz deal that you and the WTA announced just last week December 2025. Take us inside this deal Marina. By all accounts it is a huge moment for the WTA, It's a huge moment for women's sport in general. It's a huge moment in terms of sports sponsorships, full start. If the figures are to be believed, and I won't ask you to confirm them, upwards of $50 million a year over the course of the next 10 years.

8:02So total potential value of$500 million, which makes it the biggest sponsorship deal in women's sport history. It's huge. First of all, how satisfied are you that that all came together and you were able to sort of announce it as a nice early Christmas present last week. It was an incredibly proud moment for us, for the whole team, for the whole organisation and for the sport, for our players and our tournaments. It is the largest partnership in the history of the WTA and we feel it's also an endorsement of the WTA as a brand and also of our growth strategy. They are making an unprecedented commitment to the sport.

8:41It's also a reflection of something bigger that is happening in women's sport in terms of the enormous commercial momentum beyond women's sport and we women's tennis are the forefront of it it also means for us if you think about the net in tennis it's the heart of the court it's an incredible premium asset but it's also the most visible asset for for fans and for our players and so to have one of the most admired iconic brands in the world on the net really will elevate the experience at all of our tournaments. And Mercedes-Benz are also providing the fleet across the whole tour. The majority of our tournaments, whether they are the 250s or the 500 or the 1000s, so across all levels, they will be driven by Mercedes-Benz.

9:32And that's a service that is incredibly valuable to our players. And so it will really offer so much more opportunities for them as well on site. so it's an incredible announcement for us you know across many aspects yeah what do you think the deal does for mercedes-benz obviously you've detailed some of the benefits to the wta what are mercedes getting out of it for mercedes-benz firstly they takes their brand uh at this at the heart of one of the fastest growing global sports and we the wta also they're partnering with a brand that has incredible legacy and history, but also a very, very young, committed audience.

10:15So they are investing and getting back global scale, cultural relevance and purpose all at once. And they have a global footprint and the WTAs has a huge global footprint. Many of their core markets are huge tennis markets. So for them, it's a really smart investment. Also, I would say this is the most premium or one of the most premium assets available in tennis. So we think it's a perfect fit. For the fair boutier as well, it puts us well on track towards our goal to triple our revenue by 2029. So a very important part of our pillar, but also comes, as I said, with, you know, so many other benefits for us.

11:01Yeah. Talk to us a little bit about how the deal came about, if you will, I imagine it was many, many months in the making. But I think a lot of people seem to, there's a misconception that sponsorships can be brought together with quite a small number of people, when in fact, obviously, there is usually a big network of different people involved. So if you could tell us, when did the initial sort of contact happen? How long did the process taken who was involved we've been in in marcus since the start of the year for this very important package the premier partner package we appointed wasserman in april as our agency of records and they've been actively marketing with us and we had conversations with many global brands you know when mercedes-benz opportunity kind of came to us we were obviously very excited I would say that the automotive set is potentially one of the more complex one for a deal like this because, you know, our tournaments have existing agreements.

12:04So we had to work with all of our tournaments to bring this to life. So when you say, you know, how big is the team that got involved, I would say obviously the WTA Ventures team was critical with working with Wasserman, also IMG were key in the process. but then the tournaments were fundamental in this so we had to work with all of them to to bring this to life and also on the Mercedes-Benz side they have all of their kind of regional dealerships and teams who need to support the deal so yeah it's um it took a village yeah I'm sure and was the goal always to get it done by December did you hit the deadline we certainly hit the head deadline you know we wanted to ensure we had enough time to prepare for the start of the season.

12:48It also felt like a great time to announce it. And on the aesthetic, it was a beautiful announcement photo, I thought. And I feel like there is something with the WTA's imagery this year, sort of official photography. Do you have, are you going, is it something that's personally important to you, Marina? It's very important to me. And then also Sarah Swanson, our chief brand office, is something that she's really brought to the WTA. You know, we talked about, it's really the importance of brand, having a very modern, sleek brand that feels premium and there's a real consistency in the way we show up.

13:22I should also commend the Mercedes-Benz team. They hosted us at the Mercedes-Benz Museum and they, you know, brought in their own photographers and they put a lot of work with us on the detail of their announcement. So very much a joint effort there. But I would say, yeah, this is something that we really care about at the WTA. So Marina, we, as I mentioned, we spoke about a year and a half ago on another podcast about the WTA's deal with the PIF, which was relatively new at the point at which we spoke. And you talked about how satisfied you were to have been able to open up new inventory for the PIF.

14:02They're attached to the WTA rankings. How has that relationship developed in the intervening sort of 14, 15 months? It was great to bring the PIF on as a global partner and as the first ever naming partner of the WTA rankings. The rankings are a kind of huge part of what the WTA does. They help join up the story of the season, but also help us tell the players' stories, the story of their career progress and celebrate the big milestones during the year. But the PIF partnership is much more than than the rankings we always said from the beginning that we wanted to help grow women's sport creating opportunities for players at all levels it was important for the PIF to really feel part of our mission we have a shared vision for women's tennis and so we'd already committed really at the start of the partnership in 2024 to find different opportunities for PIF to support the player welfare programs of the WTA or generally the support services for the players.

15:11And so one of the first opportunities that we worked on together was the PIF Maternity Fund. Tell us about that then. When that was launched? Roughly a year ago, right? It was launched this year. In March this year, we launched it on International Women's Day. Yeah. It's an appropriate time at which to launch. What is it? So it's a groundbreaking initiative. It's the first of its kind in women's sport, especially for independent contractors. And really is available to all of our WCA players who are members, so over 300 players. And it provides really comprehensive support in terms of firstly paid maternity leave, which as I said, if you think that all of our players are effectively independent contractors, it's a huge thing for them that they really value it.

16:01But also it's incredibly inclusive. So it covers parental leave, maternity leave, fertility treatments, and quite a wide ranging kind of level of support for our players. It really sets, I guess, the benchmark for other sports also. So it's very critical for us to provide the support because it really becomes a barrier for many athletes as they kind of, you know, approach the peak of their career and they're having to make choices between having a family and pursuing their careers. So this really provides them with that certainty and that support that means that they don't have to choose and they can achieve all of their dreams.

16:43Yeah. What age do players tend to go to on the WTA? What's the sort of average age at which you finish? Yeah, well, I mean, we have a wide range of age groups, you know, all the way up to kind of 38, I would say. But some players go on further than that. And it's important for us that they feel that they have the flexibility to continue with their career and not feeling that they have to give up too soon. Yeah. So what was the genesis of this program? where did it start? What kind of, I imagine this has been a sort of conversation on the tour for a long time. And where was the point? How did you assess how you were going to work with the PIF to kind of match them up to this idea or to help them find an area where they can really make an impact?

17:34As soon as we started our partnership, we had a series of workshops. So we came together with the team at the PIF led by Alan Nude. And we were looking for ways to support the players, but we felt that it needed to be what the players wanted. It needed to be led by them and what their priorities were. So we worked very closely with the Player Council to prioritise different initiatives. And very quickly, we galvanised around the maternity fund. And this is something that the Player Council has been pushing for a very long time and the WTA has been wanting to make this happen. But we never had the funding before to be able to support it.

18:19And so it was great that the PIF were able to help us achieve this. It is the first ever fund of this kind of maternity fund of this kind that is fully funded by commercial partner. so you know very grateful to pif but also very proud um in terms of my team the wta ventures team to have been able to bring this to the wta what has the feedback been like and i'm interested not just in the feedback from the players who um it could directly benefit but wider kind of stakeholder feedback people are involved in in tennis perhaps other women's sports organizations yeah give us a flavor of what some of the feedback has been yeah so well firstly the the players are the most important feedback for us.

19:04And they have been incredibly, really positive about the scheme from, you know, as I said, you know, this is something that supports players across all the levels. And for many, this is life-changing for them. It really makes all the difference of being able to choose to take a break from their career, to go and start a family and then come back. So we've incredible, incredible feedback from them. We've also had great feedback from other sports leagues who come to us asking questions, but also just really asking us, you know, how we've been able to develop such a comprehensive policy, understanding the way we went about funding commercial partners.

19:44So I would say that the feedback all around us has been incredibly positive. Have some players benefited from it thus far? We already have like a number of players on the scheme. You know, what's great to see again, it's across all levels, across all rankings levels. So it's great. And we look forward to hearing from them. I'm sure many of them will want to tell their stories as their kind of plans develop. And, you know, already I know Hans-Jabert has spoken very positively about what this has meant for her. And, you know, she's currently now on maternity leave. So it's brilliant. that she's telling that story, but also there's so many other players on it.

20:26Yeah. How would you like to see the program develop? So for now, it's really about learning from the players, seeing feedback from them on how they want to see that develop. We've already enhanced it this year with adding embryo and eggs freezing to the scheme. So really thinking kind of carefully about what's important to the players and ensuring that we're here to develop that programme over time. Separately, the tour has now had its season-ending finals in Riyadh for two years. You've just recently had the second edition of that tournament. How, and clearly that's also linked to the support from the PIF, it's the home of the PIF.

21:09How satisfied are you with the progression of that tournament? We're really, really happy with the WTF finals in Riyadh, presented by PIF. We've seen a huge increase in attendance, 25%, but also if you consider some of the days were already sold out, including the final day, it's great to see just the growth of the sport in the region and Riyadh starting to position itself as a destination for tennis. But what's great has been also to see the impact outside of the event. Women's participation in tennis has grown nearly 25 percent this year and we've been contributing through quite a lot of the work that the WTA foundation does also with Judy Murray in terms of community tennis yeah we've been in Riyadh throughout the throughout the year multiple occasions we've reached out to 100 school teachers and training them but also 25 different coaches yeah it's great to see the impact that we are having on the sport in the region.

22:15And finally, Marina, it is that time of year. And I wonder whether you have got any New Year's resolutions this year. Yeah, I don't tend to do New Year's resolution. I always find that if something is important, I've got to start at the end of the year, more likely to keep it up. One thing I would say that I've focused on a lot year has been being more intentional about my health and well-being so really focused on that and this year actually it's all about building strength so I've been reading a lot about the importance of bone and muscle strength something that growing up as a girl you know you didn't hear about and now there's a lot more information about women's health available so this is going to be one of my priorities next year as well.

23:05Very good Marina Storty thank you very much indeed. Thank you.