New WTA boss wants to copy Stern's blueprint

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By Yu Yilei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-12 09:14

In 1991, Stacey Allaster wrote a thesis at the University of Ontario discussing David Stern's success in running the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Now, as the NBA has gripped the hearts of the millions of Chinese youngsters and has proven to be the most successful foreign sports association in China, Allaster, the newly-promoted chief executive of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tour, is aiming to emulate the NBA's success here.

"I have been following the success of David Stern since the beginning of my career," Allaster said at the sidelines of the China Open, which concluded last night in Beijing.

"What struck me about David's vision for basketball is everything has been focused on the fans. And this is what I have been focusing on in my career in tennis administration."

New WTA boss wants to copy Stern's blueprint

Compared with basketball, tennis is a relatively new sport in China, despite the recent rise of the country's female players.

There are an estimated 300 million people who play basketball in China while the figure for tennis is about 10 million.

Allaster, who recently replaced Larry Scott as CEO of the WTA, said Stern's practises in China inspired her to also cultivate the potential huge fan base here.

"David had this incredible vision when he came to China 23 years ago; offering CCTV the basketball and building the fan base," Allaster said of the NBA's early cooperation with the national TV station.

Over the past year, the WTA tour has followed a similar path. It opened an office in Beijing in May, reached a mega-broadcasting deal with CCTV, brought its high-profile games to China and has collaborated with local sports associations to build tennis facilities around the country.

Apart from major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, which have hosted WTA events, Ningbo, a coastal city in east China, is going to have a new facility where the WTA wants to stage entry-level professional events to help build a year-round presence in China.

"When I was in Beijing in 2006, what struck me was seeing a lot of basketball courts," Allaster said.

The 46-year-old is happy with how much the WTA tour has achieved in China in a short space of time. That includes a sharp increase in the audience at the China Open, which combines a premier WTA tournament with an ATP 500 event. An average of 16,000 fans entered the National Tennis Center each day during this year's 10-day event, 20 percent more than last edition.

"The crowds are testament to tennis's growth in China. I think we have huge potential to promote tennis to young people," she said.