Women’s tennis’ elite WTA Tour has announced the renewal of its media rights agreements in the Chinese market with state-owned streaming platform Migu and digital media giant Tencent.
This pair of agreements will now cover the upcoming 2026 WTA Tour and will include all WTA Tour events taking place outside of mainland China, including top-tier WTA 1000 tournaments, second-tier WTA 500, and third-tier WTA 250 events.
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This will begin with the WTA 500 Adelaide International (January 12 to 17) and run through the season-ending WTA Finals in November 2026, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
While the deal excludes a swing of Chinese mainland events across September, October, and November, including the China Open (Beijing), Wuhan Open, Ningbo Open, Guangzhou Open, and the Jiangxi Open, it covers the Hong Kong Open on November 25.
The WTA claims that viewership in China increased “more than thirtyfold” across the 2025 campaign, powered by high-quality on-court action, as well as the presence of world #25-ranked Chinese star Zheng Qinwen, who competed off the back of a 2024 that saw her win an Olympic gold medal.
Speaking on the new announcement, WTA Ventures chief executive Marina Stori commented: “Our partnerships with leading Chinese streaming platforms have delivered a significant step-change in both coverage and viewership of international tournaments, bringing the excitement of the global WTA Tour to more fans than ever.”
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By GlobalDataIndeed, social media and fan engagement metrics for the WTA Tour in China grew substantially, with follower count across official social media channels up 14% (to 2.3 million) and 71% growth in video views (125 million) over the year, powered by 300% follower growth on video-focused social media platforms Douyin, Rednote, and WeChat.
Storti continued: “The surge in streaming audiences, along with rising engagement on social platforms, highlights the growing enthusiasm for women’s tennis in this key market. We are thrilled to extend our valued relationships with Migu and Tencent through the 2026 season, alongside our ongoing partnership with Youku, as we continue to grow the WTA’s presence and impact in China.”
This is the second year that Migu and Tencent have showcased WTA, having picked up rights originally in 2025.
Coverage will be supported by Alibaba-owned online video platform Youku, which struck a three-year deal for WTA rights in 2024.
