LARRY SCOTT
Pacific-10 Conference Commissioner
Larry Scott succeeded Tom Hansen as the sixth Commissioner of the Pacific-10 Conference on July 1, 2009. Scott joined the Pac-10 after serving six years as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour (Women's Tennis Association), where he engineered an exciting turnaround and oversaw unprecedented growth and popularity for women's professional tennis on a global scale.
Credited most notably as the architect of the largest-ever sponsorship in both women's sports and professional tennis, a six-year $88-million landmark title sponsorship agreement with Sony Ericsson beginning in 2005, Scott also signed the largest television deal in the history of women's tennis, launched its biggest marketing campaigns, and spearheaded the 2007 passage of the Roadmap 2009 initiative, the most sweeping reform package in the history of the women's game designed to create a stronger and more entertaining women's tennis product for fans and featuring a 40 percent increase in prize money to a record $86 million and $750 million of stadium facility investment.
Equally historic achievements during Scott's tenure include: realization of the Tour's long-standing goal for garnering equal prize money at all Grand Slam tournaments, in addition to equal prize money at the Tour's biggest 10 events; opening of the Tour's first ever Asia-Pacific office in Beijing; continuation of the Tour's strategy to showcase the very best of women's tennis in different regions and markets throughout the world by awarding the Sony Ericsson Championships for three years each to Doha, Qatar (2008-2010) and Istanbul, Turkey (2011-2013) in deals valued at a total of $84 million; introduction of more innovations to the sport than in its prior history, including electronic line calling and on-court coaching; signing of a series of major sponsorships, including with Whirlpool and Dubai Duty Free; establishment of a pioneering partnership with UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to advance gender equality; and playing a lead role in a series of cooperative initiatives with the sport's other governing bodies to grow the game, including the US Open Series.
In recognition of these many accomplishments, in 2008 the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour was nominated by Sports Business Journal as Sports League of the Year and was the recipient of the Women's Sports Foundation Billie Jean King Contribution Award. In addition, Larry Scott was named to Time Magazine's prestigious 2008 annual list of best global sports executives.
Scott's career in tennis began as a professional tennis player on the ATP circuit, where he played for three years and won one title. Prior to joining the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, Scott spent more than a decade in leadership and senior management positions at the ATP, serving in the posts of Chief Operating Officer, President of ATP Properties and Executive Vice President of the International Group. In these roles, which included postings in Sydney, Monte Carlo and London, he was credited with significantly growing the popularity of men's tennis globally, establishing the Tennis Masters Cup as one of the most successful events in the sport, negotiating the renewal of the ATP's celebrated 13-year sponsorship partnership with Mercedes-Benz, which remains one of the preeminent sponsorship agreements in tennis history, and launching the first tournaments in several developing locales such as China and the Persian Gulf. Scott also served as Vice President of the ATP Player Council when he played on the ATP circuit, and was a founding member of the ATP Board of Directors.
Scott is a 1986 honors graduate of Harvard University, where he excelled as a student and as an athlete, garnering All-America honors in addition to serving as captain of the tennis team. Having earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in European History, Scott speaks fluent French. He and wife, Cybille, have three children, Alexander, Sebastien and Alannah.
