Exclusive: Squash Tour Finals set to move to LA ahead of Olympic Games debut
Los Angeles is in line to host the Squash Tour Finals next year as the sport looks to lay foundations ahead of the next Olympic Games, City PM has learned.
Squash is one of five sports added to the Olympic programme for the LA 2028 Games, and will take place on the Back to the Future set inside Universal Studios.
And the organisation is keen to make the most of its US showcase by taking the annual Professional Squash Association’s tour finale to California.
The Squash Tour Finals are set to be sponsored by Chelsea co-owner Mark Walter’s TWG Global. Walter also has a stake in the commercial arm of the PSA.
“We’re hoping to take it to LA,” PSA chief executive Alex Gough told City PM. “We want to do that ahead of the Games as well in terms of being fully in that market.”
Squash heading Stateside
Gough added that investment from Walter in 2022 had enabled the Squash Media Marketing arm to step up its activities as it bids to remain on the Olympic roster in Brisbane six years from now. It has led to record prize money of $12.5m, while the organisation is expanding its headcount.
“The sport is in fairly solid shape,” Gough said. “And with the Olympics coming up in two years’ time, our main goal now is to maximise that from a reach point of view.
“We’re building on all the stories around the Olympics, putting ourselves in the best shape that we can so that when we do hit LA it’s not a standing start.”
Squash chiefs believe that it should be favoured over the sudden popularity of padel because Olympic medalists could come from a wider geographical spread of countries.
While the top 13 players in the men’s and women’s padel rankings are either Spanish or Argentinian, the equivalent 26 players in squash stem from nine nations and six continents.