Katie Haas: CEO of the Western & Southern Open

In February of 2022, Katie Haas was named CEO of the Western & Southern Open, one of just five events in the world to host an ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 tournament at the same venue in the same week.

Haas is the only female to hold the Chief Executive role at such an event.

“I feel very fortunate, lucky and honored to pave the way for other females knowing that I am the only female in my position at the Masters series level,” Haas says. “It’s going to be good to get more [women] in and around all sports in seats of leadership in the future.”

Haas was brought onto Western & Southern Open’s staff first as COO in 2018; a role in which she worked closely with the tournament’s CEO at the time, Andre Silva. Silva left in June of 2020 to take a job with the PGA TOUR down in Florida. When that happened, Haas stepped up.

“Basically I’ve kind of had the role without the title necessarily,” Haas laughs. “Now it’s just the title matching the responsibility of the last two years.”

She now oversees all aspects of the Western & Southern Open, including all business and broadcast operations, player relations and the overall fan experience. 

“You know I’ve only been with this tournament for three and a half years and it’s been crazy,” Haas shares. “We’re around two years from the day that lock downs [began]. In those two years, we oversaw our tournaments move from Cincinnati to New York, and the staging of the 2020 event with no fans at the national tennis center. Then we were able to welcome back our fans in August of ’21, basically restarting normalcy.”

Haas reflects back on the event’s successful return to its home city in Cincinnati, being the first combined event in North America held without attendance limitation during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

“I feel honored that we were able to restart tennis,” Haas says.

Before working with the Western & Southern Open, Haas spent 15 years with the Boston Red Sox organization where she was Vice President of the Florida Business Operations. Looking farther back, Haas has been in the business of athletic support since she was a senior in high school.

“I did everything from payroll to tarp duty for a minor league baseball team in Sarasota that the Red Sox owned… I love the fact that sports is so multi-faceted in that it brings together all walks of life, but also, specific to what I do now—I never know what’s going to happen on any given day, especially in tennis!”

“God forbid it rains, this or that happens, you just have to continuously adapt and pivot. To me that’s exciting; the unknown of a live event,” Haas says.

Haas likes telling young professionals, “I feel so blessed in that I’ve never woken up and said, ‘I don’t want to go to work today.’ I think when you can find something that aligns with your passions, it’s fun! It doesn’t feel like work.”

Have there been sacrifices? “Absolutely. Having to get married between baseball seasons in Boston in January is not ideal. My husband works for the Arizona Diamondbacks and he’s on the road 200 days a year. So in a different way, we’ve had to sacrifice due to sport in more so raising our kids in a hybrid/single mom model while working… Having a daughter, I do want to set an example for her, and it’s very important for me to have her seeing a strong female, lead role model,” Haas shares. “It’s definitely long nights and weekend work, but that’s the give and take working in sports.”

Prior to joining the Red Sox’s Florida operations, she served as the Senior Manager of Business Affairs in Boston while also managing ancillary events at Fenway Park and the team’s environmental program. One of her all-time favorite career memories has been installing solar panels at then 100-year-old Fenway Park.

She’s a graduate of Northeastern University, who also worked in sponsorship services with the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats.

All this sports experience, Haas hardly considers herself an athlete. “Nothing beyond the high school basketball team, track team and things like that… I did grow up in the town next to the Nick Bollettieri Academy in Sarasota, Florida. I played tennis as a kid and did the summer camps like all good Floridian children do,” Haas says.

Between her responsibilities as CEO and being a mom, Haas doesn’t have time to play much, but she was fast in getting her kids into it—signing them up for indoor lessons the last few years while making their move to Ohio.

Haas is currently working with her Western & Southern Open teams to prepare for the 2022 tournament, which will take place August 13-21 at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio. Since 2011, the Western & Southern Open has attracted more than 1.8 million spectators and is broadcasted to more than 50 million viewers.

“We have an internal mantra — bigger, better, bolder. We really try to use that as we bring back the fan experience to its fullest,” Haas says. “We’re really excited and we’ve got a whole bunch of fun stuff we’re looking forward to showcasing to the fans this August.”

At the end of her interview, Haas shares her extreme gratefulness for the opportunities she’s been extended. “That’s a really big deal, Women’s History Month… Since I was that young girl, it’s always been my dream, the vision, the goal to be CEO of a sports property… This is all I’ve ever wanted to do and be in my career. I look forward to continue to learn and grow.”

For more information about the Western & Southern Open and buying tickets visit www.wsopen.com.