WTA Finals to move to Charlotte NBA arena for at least three years
The season-ending tournament will be staged at Spectrum Center as the WTA seeks to build a major global event for women’s sport.
The WTA Finals will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, for at least the next three years, with matches to be played at Spectrum Center, home of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.
The WTA and Charlotte Sports Foundation announced the move on Wednesday. The November tournament features the top eight singles players and doubles teams from the season.
WTA chair Valerie Camillo said the organisation’s ambition was to make the Finals “the Super Bowl for women’s sports”, describing the event as a potential annual gathering for women’s tennis, sport and sport business.
Charlotte’s selection follows the WTA’s decision to leave Saudi Arabia before the final year of its hosting arrangement. The 2026 Finals are scheduled to be held at Indian Wells, California, in what is expected to be a one-off event. The report said the WTA had cited military conflicts in the Middle East as a concern over returning to Saudi Arabia.
The WTA said 2026 would be a year of financial transition involving cost-cutting and the cost of relocating the Finals to Indian Wells. No prize-money figures have been announced for the Charlotte tournaments.
Charlotte will be the eighth different venue for the Finals since 2018. Elena Rybakina reportedly received US$5.23 million for winning the 2025 event in Riyadh, while runner-up Aryna Sabalenka earned US$2.7 million.
