{"id":732203,"date":"2026-06-12T16:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T16:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/732203\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T16:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T16:33:11","slug":"how-wta-tennis-channel-are-capitalizing-on-serena-williams-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/732203\/","title":{"rendered":"How WTA, Tennis Channel are capitalizing on Serena Williams’ return"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

Serena Williams\u2019 announcement that she would return to pro tennis sent the tennis world into a frenzy earlier this month.<\/p>\n

For organizers at the Lawn Tennis Association, which owns and operates the WTA 500 tournament at which she re-debuted on a doubles wild card, the HSBC Championships at London\u2019s Queen\u2019s Club, the remit was simple: Prepare for the arrival of a G.O.A.T<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cA player of the significance of Serena, she obviously comes with her family and quite a big team,\u201d said Chris Pollard, the LTA\u2019s managing director of commercial and operations. \u201cThe Queen\u2019s Club is a very tight site, so to try and find additional space for her, and some of the requirements that she had, required us to move at pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anticipating the demand that would follow the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion after nearly four years away from the game, organizers elevated Williams and doubles partner Victoria Mboko\u2019s first-round match to the Queen\u2019s Club\u2019s primary show court, the nearly 9,000-capacity Andy Murray Arena (the grounds hold a little under 10,000 total).<\/p>\n

The HSBC Championships\u2019 WTA component \u2014 which it reintroduced in 2025 after a five-decade run as an ATP-only event \u2014 went from 88% of an aggregate capacity sellout last year to 95% in 2026, with five of seven days sold out (including Tuesday, when Williams played). <\/p>\n

Pollard cautioned that sales were trending toward their current status even before Williams\u2019 announcement, but her first match filled the stadium. An LTA spokesperson said that three days in the tournament\u2019s media center had also been at capacity, and Instagram views and impressions were up about 300% overall for the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cSerena has drawn significant extra interest, and with that has come an uptick in ticket sales,\u201d Pollard said. \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily easy to isolate that to the Serena effect versus other [wild cards]. But it\u2019s definitely been net positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Covering the chaos<\/p>\n

Tennis Channel has exclusive U.S. broadcast rights<\/a> to WTA tournaments, leaving it well-positioned to capitalize on Williams\u2019 return tour. In addition to the HSBC Championships, Williams will play on a doubles wild card at the Vanda Pharmaceuticals Berlin Tennis Open in Germany, another WTA 500, set to begin June 15.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been covering this on \u2018Tennis Channel Live\u2019 every day since she went into the [anti-doping] protocol [last year], anticipating and hoping that this would happen,\u201d said Tennis Channel Chairman and CEO Jeff Blackburn. \u201cWe\u2019re super excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tennis Channel aired Williams\u2019 first match at the HSBC Championships on its flagship linear channel and app, with its \u201cA\u201d commentary team of Chanda Rubin and Tracy Austin on the call remotely and analyst Chris Eubanks<\/a> reporting on the ground.<\/p>\n

Tennis Channel\u2019s coverage also included advertisements for Ro \u2014 the telehealth-based weight loss company for which Williams is an ambassador and her husband Alexis Ohanian\u2019s venture capital firm, Seven Seven Six, is an investor \u2014 DraftKings, Whoop and Thorne, each of which came on specifically to be featured during Williams\u2019 match.<\/p>\n

Blackburn said another focus will be driving new and interested viewers to the Tennis Channel app. Upgrades to the app have been a primary task for Blackburn since he started with the network<\/a> last spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen\u2019s tennis is already on a tear. Our [viewership] numbers are up<\/a> 20%-30% on [WTA 1000] tournaments year to year,\u201d Blackburn said. \u201cAdding Serena on top, this could be an incredible moment for women\u2019s sports. If she\u2019s back permanently, if she also plays singles \u2014 we\u2019re hoping for all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making most of a \u2018shooting star\u2019<\/p>\n

WTA Chair Valerie Camillo first had \u201cgood confidence\u201d that the rumors of Williams\u2019 return were real after speaking with Williams\u2019 team at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in March. Their envisioned timing was not finalized, but it was enough for the WTA to begin planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started to work on how will the WTA optimize this moment for our brand, for our fans and, of course, for Serena as well,\u201d Camillo said. \u201cWe went through a meaningful planning process on our marketing approach \u2014 on how we show up on social media, on broadcast \u2014 without knowing the exact tournament, the exact day, who she would partner with.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the week of Williams\u2019 return, that manifested in several activations, from spraying tune-in graphics across digital channels, to releasing archival footage of Williams\u2019 matches within the tour\u2019s \u201cWTA Unlocked\u201d membership program, to promoting clips from practice sessions and press conferences on social media. A WTA spokesperson noted that Saturday, June 6 \u2014 also the day of the French Open women\u2019s singles final \u2014 was the WTA website\u2019s highest-trafficked day of the year so far.<\/p>\n

Camillo said the WTA is looking at ways it can work with brands in Williams\u2019 network \u2014 think her cosmetics line, Wyn Beauty; dress collection for S by Serena; or recovery brand Will Perform. Williams also has leaned into brand collaborations since the announcement, including a new endorsement deal and creative spot with the meal delivery service Factor.<\/p>\n

Only Williams knows her plans from here, but the prevailing theory among industry observers is that she will eventually play singles as well, possibly at Wimbledon. A spokesperson from the All England Lawn Tennis Club responded to a question from SBJ about Williams\u2019 status by saying wild-card deliberations will begin for the tournament the week of June 15.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime will tell and the situation will reveal itself \u2014 is this for this season, does it go beyond that?\u201d Camillo said. \u201cBut for us at the WTA, when a star appears in your sky \u2014 and you could argue, in tennis, she\u2019s one of the brightest stars that\u2019s ever been \u2014 whether it\u2019s something with permanence or whether it\u2019s a shooting star, you take advantage of it all the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rob Schaefer can be reached at rschaefer@sportsbusinessjournal.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Serena Williams\u2019 announcement that she would return to pro tennis sent the tennis world into a frenzy earlier…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":732204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,48702,6413,85,747,38305,121151,749,24353,2637],"class_list":["post-732203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-print","tag-serena-williams","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-tennis-channel","tag-the-insiders","tag-wimbledon","tag-womens-sports","tag-wta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=732203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/732204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=732203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=732203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=732203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}