By 2009, the Pacific Life Open could have men's and women's fields playing simultaneously for a total purse of $8 million to $9 million that would be divided equally.
For the event at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden that concluded Sunday, purses totaled $5.6 million. They were not split evenly, with women receiving just $2.1 million of that sum.
“It's a massive increase,” said Ray Moore, president of PM Sports Management, of the projected hike to $8 million or $9 million.
But there is a proviso. Before the tournament would decide to create a prize fund for women equal to what men receive, Moore and Charlie Pasarell, the PLO chairman, want to be assured that women will be compelled to compete just as men are.
Men and women, you should know, haven't exactly been going hand to hand in tennis. To make this point, the ATP Tour, for men, requires its players ranked in the top 50 to show up for nine Masters Series events, of which the tournament at Indian Wells is one. The WTA Tour, for women, has not required its members to play in the desert.
Other than the Grand Slams, the only event that is mandatory for women is this week's Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.
In return for equal prize money and an increased purse, Moore said the only thing the PLO is asking is for the women to play a tournament. “I don't think that is an onerous thing to do,” he said.
The course of women's tennis is to be determined this week in a meeting of the WTA board of directors in Miami. Larry Scott, chairman and CEO of the WTA, said the men's and women's tours are expressing “unprecedented cooperation” and that the game has what he termed “a great opportunity.”
At issue is expanding the number of tournaments in which players of both genders compete currently. At the moment, aside from the Grand Slams, there are just two, at Indian Wells and Miami. There are other events that offer competitions for both men and women, but in these tournaments play, say, for women is completed before play for men begins.
Under consideration, according to Scott, is adding events in Shanghai and possibly Madrid for both men and women. Scott in a news conference at Indian Wells said Shanghai and Madrid are “two of the strongest candidates” to be deeded these tournaments, but not the only candidates.
Adding two tournaments of this rank would mean eliminating others if the WTA Tour is to follow Scott's “Roadmap to 2010,” which has shortening the season as its thrust. One event that would seem likely to be sacrificed: the Acura Classic. It is to be offered at the La Costa Resort & Spa beginning July 30, but after this year it could be folded. The tour has purchased it.
Scott said that there is a possibility that the La Costa event will be continued after this year. La Costa, he said, has expressed an interest. If the tournament is preserved, Scott said it will be with new owners. The tournament has been presented by the officers of Promotion Sports Inc., Raquel Giscafre and Jane Stratton.
“If we are back at La Costa, I expect them to be involved, just not as owners,” said Scott. “They made a decision as business people that they wanted to cash out.”
Giscafre and Stratton chose to divest themselves of their tennis interests only after they had made a considerable investment in upgrading the Acura to a Tier I event, then had fields of a lesser quality than they had been promised.
The PLO, meantime, is thriving. For the first time, it attracted total crowds of more than 300,000. This, though its women's field was limited by the absences of Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, Amelie Mauresmo and Serena and Venus Williams, among others.
“I think this year the tournament took on a new life,” said Moore. “Last year we just barely saved the tournament from moving, and our focus was elsewhere than actually running the tournament. It was preserving the tournament.”
To the Moore/Pasarell amalgam, the public has embraced the event. Moore said studies have established that the tournament has an economic impact of $219 million in the Coachella Valley. Only 20 percent of those who attend it are local; 80 percent are from other places. Three percent are from Europe.
In the future for the event: an adjacent development that would include two hotels, six restaurant pads and a 12-screen motion picture complex.
“It takes awhile,” Moore said of realizing these plans. “But three years from now, this place will look very different.”
Jerry Magee: (619) 293-1830; jerry.magee@uniontrib.com
