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WTA says it didn't promise tour stop
By JAMES THORNER
© St. Petersburg Times, WESLEY CHAPEL -- As he pushes the county to build a $5-million tennis stadium in Wesley Chapel, Tom Dempsey has made some bold promises. The owner of Saddlebrook resort promised he would cover any operational losses the arena might incur. And he said the Women's Tennis Association had guaranteed it would bring a "tour event" to Pasco that would draw crowds and television coverage and pay $170,000 in prize money. On Wednesday, the WTA said there was no such guarantee. "There was always discussion about an event... . Did the tour guarantee anything? Absolutely not," said Josh Ripple, the WTA's chief operating officer. But Dempsey insists a guaranteed $170,000 tournament, known in the tennis world as a Tier Three event, originally figured in a deal with the WTA, although women's tennis later changed the terms of the agreement. "A Tier Three was in his package, but when we talked about it, he wanted to take it off the table," Dempsey said of Ripple. Dempsey added: "I know what I was promised. I've got it in writing." Would he fax the St. Petersburg Times copies of the written promises? Not a chance, Dempsey said, but he could clear things up if the reporter visited him in his Saddlebrook office. Why would Ripple say there was no guarantee? Dempsey said Ripple was constrained by politics on the WTA's board of directors. "He was closing you out of conversation in the board room, which is none of your g--d--- business," Dempsey told a Times reporter Wednesday. As Pasco County commissioners consider spending more than $5-million in tourist tax money on a public tennis stadium, questions about what tournaments would fill the arena are taking center stage. Despite the discrepancy in the two men's versions of events, Dempsey and Ripple agreed the tournament that finally did emerge from the deal is best for Pasco. Dempsey said the WTA, as part of the contract that is bringing its headquarters to Saddlebrook next year, will sanction an annual "special event" to take place sometime during the November-December break in the women's tour. Dempsey angrily questioned a story that ran in Wednesday's Times describing the "special event" as a preseason exhibition not on par with the previously promised $170,000 tournament. In that story, a WTA spokesman defined as a "special event" matches in which "there isn't any pressure, the rankings aren't affected and there's a more laid-back atmosphere." Dempsey argued that "preseason" is a baseball term. Instead, he characterized the November-December break as "open time" at the end of the tennis calendar. He said his special event comes with "no limit" as to the quality of players, the amount of prize money and the breadth of television coverage. Ripple agreed. Although acknowledging the women's rankings wouldn't change with whoever wins the Pasco tournament, Ripple said the event would give Pasco a chance to "showcase the best talent." "The ability for Pasco County and Saddlebrook to have an event with top players is going to be far better given what we are now in agreement over," Ripple said. Both Ripple and Dempsey downplayed any variation in their two stories about the "guarantee" of a $170,000 tournament. Saddlebrook and the WTA are a couple of weeks away from signing the contract that would bring the WTA headquarters to Pasco and assure the county the "special event," Ripple said. "Tom and I are on the same page," Ripple said Wednesday. PREVIOUS COVERAGE:Officials: WTA is economic win Commissioners tentatively approve ad deal for WTA County endorses bid to attract tennis headquarters
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