Women’s Tennis: Historic Partnership with Mercedes-Benz
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
It has been announced, on 10 December 2025, that the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has signed a long-term partnership with Mercedes-Benz.
The German car manufacturer becomes the premier partner of the WTA and will invest US$ 50 million (around €42.7 million) a year into women’s tennis for 10 years. As such, this partnership has the potential of becoming the biggest in women's sport!
In fact, the partnership has been characterised as the "most significant" in WTA history, being worth up to half a billion US dollars (around €427 million), and will help towards achieving the WTA commitment to have equal prize money at tennis events where both men and women feature by 2027, and at non-combined events by 2033.
Equal prize money was one of the key goals when the WTA was founded, in 1973, by American tennis great, Billie Jean King, who was its first President.
She stated that the deal shows that the WTA tour:
"continues to lead the way in women's sport."
And added that:
"Equal prize money is so important and sends a really strong message.”
Mercedes-Benz previously sponsored the men's ATP Tour from 1996 to 2008 and is an official sponsor of the US Open Tennis Tournament.
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
