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CNN Live At Daybreak
Wimbledon: A Woman's Touch
Aired June 23, 2003 - 05:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The Wimbledon tennis tournament gets under way a little more than an hour from now. The weather is breezy and dry with temperatures in the 70s, perfect for tennis.
And as our Paula Hancocks reports from Wimbledon, this tournament definitely has a woman's touch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the baseline to the headline, it all adds up to the bottom line, and this year the score is advantage women. More about glamour than grand strokes, in some cases, the women are finally starting to see the same six figure winning checks as the men. In fact, the top three tennis earners so far this year are women. Kim Clusters, fellow Belgium Justine Henin-Hardenne and American Serena Williams leaving the men behind in terms of prize money, and that's before you even consider their marketability.
RICHARD DORFMAN, SPORTS MEDIA CONSULTANT: Anna Kournikova, who's never won a tournament, I think is making $7 million to $10 million on marketing, but that's all about the lifestyle, it's about the look. It's how much product you can sell via this association with a particular athlete. I think women being the more attractive sex probably have more selling power. I'm not going to buy a watch because Andre Agassi is wearing the watch, but I might go out and buy an outfit for my wife because Kournikova looked good in it.
HANCOCKS: Some of the women are admired as much for their looks as their talents these days. Even Hollywood wants to get in on the tennis action. Reese Witherspoon is planning to star in a film about the U.S. Open and the latest role for Kirsten Dunst is a grand slam player at Wimbledon.
(on camera): And it's this sense of peace of world tennis that's holding out on the equal pay front. Winning the men's singles tournament here at Wimbledon will net you about $70,000 more than becoming a female champion, a discrepancy the organizers blame on women playing shorter matches than men.
(voice-over): But the Women's Tennis Association would like to see equal prize money at Wimbledon as there is at the U.S. Open and the Australian Open.
LARRY SCOTT, CEO, WTA: It's not about the money, but the women feel very strongly that as a matter of principle, given the caliber of play and the entertainment value they bring for fans, that as a matter of principle, they deserve equal prize money.
HANCOCKS: The players of the WTA are arguably the most powerful group of female athletes in recent history, but it's the WTA itself which is trying to market itself better. The tour started 2003 with 40 percent less in sponsorship than the year before.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 23, 2003 - 05:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The Wimbledon tennis tournament gets under way a little more than an hour from now. The weather is breezy and dry with temperatures in the 70s, perfect for tennis.
And as our Paula Hancocks reports from Wimbledon, this tournament definitely has a woman's touch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the baseline to the headline, it all adds up to the bottom line, and this year the score is advantage women. More about glamour than grand strokes, in some cases, the women are finally starting to see the same six figure winning checks as the men. In fact, the top three tennis earners so far this year are women. Kim Clusters, fellow Belgium Justine Henin-Hardenne and American Serena Williams leaving the men behind in terms of prize money, and that's before you even consider their marketability.
RICHARD DORFMAN, SPORTS MEDIA CONSULTANT: Anna Kournikova, who's never won a tournament, I think is making $7 million to $10 million on marketing, but that's all about the lifestyle, it's about the look. It's how much product you can sell via this association with a particular athlete. I think women being the more attractive sex probably have more selling power. I'm not going to buy a watch because Andre Agassi is wearing the watch, but I might go out and buy an outfit for my wife because Kournikova looked good in it.
HANCOCKS: Some of the women are admired as much for their looks as their talents these days. Even Hollywood wants to get in on the tennis action. Reese Witherspoon is planning to star in a film about the U.S. Open and the latest role for Kirsten Dunst is a grand slam player at Wimbledon.
(on camera): And it's this sense of peace of world tennis that's holding out on the equal pay front. Winning the men's singles tournament here at Wimbledon will net you about $70,000 more than becoming a female champion, a discrepancy the organizers blame on women playing shorter matches than men.
(voice-over): But the Women's Tennis Association would like to see equal prize money at Wimbledon as there is at the U.S. Open and the Australian Open.
LARRY SCOTT, CEO, WTA: It's not about the money, but the women feel very strongly that as a matter of principle, given the caliber of play and the entertainment value they bring for fans, that as a matter of principle, they deserve equal prize money.
HANCOCKS: The players of the WTA are arguably the most powerful group of female athletes in recent history, but it's the WTA itself which is trying to market itself better. The tour started 2003 with 40 percent less in sponsorship than the year before.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
