L.A. Lands a Staple of Women’s Game

The WTA’s Board of Directors voted Friday to hold the premier season-ending women’s tennis tournament in Southern California for the first time, moving the WTA championships from their one-year stopover in Munich, Germany, to Staples Center.

An often-fractious process marked by territorial disputes culminated in a vote to transfer the event by the 10-member board after a lengthy meeting in Miami.

Details of the deal were still being worked out late Friday, but Staples Center officials anticipate the $3-million championships will conclude the first week in November. Tim Leiweke, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group and Staples Center, expects the event to be held at the downtown arena for a couple of years.

Another potential option is literally down the road: AEG has started construction on a $120-million sports complex in Carson, which will include a tennis stadium.

“We’re going to take a look at how it’s doing [at Staples],” said Leiweke. “And whether or not we want to look at doing other things with it or keeping it here. So there are some mutual options.”

The event was held in New York before it was moved to Munich last year. When interest in returning the championships to the U.S. was raised, Leiweke made the bid to bring the event to Staples. While many on the tour support the site change, its biggest opponent has been International Management Group, which represents players and runs its own tournaments: In Southern California, IMG is a partner at Indian Wells and owns the Manhattan Beach women’s event.

Bob Kain, president and chief operating officer of IMG, said Thursday that the company would “keep fighting” the move, contending there are too many women’s events in Southern California.

Leiweke and the event’s rights-holder, Octagon, argued that the addition of the championships would enhance the other events, not detract from them.

“I look at the new stars coming along with the existing stars in women’s tennis,” Leiweke said. “This is their championship event. I think we have an opportunity here to take that to the next level. That is not a knock on what’s happened in the last year or so. In L.A. we do very well with big star-driven events.

“This was a long process, but sometimes good things take a long time,” Leiweke added. “This is an example of something worth fighting for. It’s on the scale of the Grammys, the NBA or NHL All-Star games. This has the opportunity and should be considered one of the best sporting events in the world.”

Kevin Wulff, the WTA’s chief executive officer, was not available for comment because many of the details, including the final dates, were still being worked out in subsequent meetings.

Leiweke said credit for the move must also go to the players, a key force behind the effort. One of the compelling reasons to return the championships to the United States was Monica Seles, who was stabbed in Germany in 1993. She said she will never play there again and wanted to finish her career competing in the championships.

“This is another example of how we’re going to re-center tennis to Southern California,” said Kevin O’Connor, executive director of AEG tennis. “I’m very pleased that the Staples Center will be able to showcase women’s tennis, and I couldn’t personally be more happy for Monica Seles.”

Mayor James K. Hahn was also involved. He wrote a letter to the WTA in support and is recruiting the organization as it considers a possible move of its headquarters to Los Angeles.

“The mayor, to his credit, went out and found potential office space,” Leiweke said. “He found some office space downtown and said, ‘We want your offices here and I’m prepared to work for it.’”