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Questioning Tennis Sponsor Ads

I just finished reading Pat Hanssen’s “Your Serve” article, “A Suitable Tennis Partner,” in the August issue, regarding inappropriate TV commercials. I couldn’t agree more. My children are grown, but I still cringe when ads like Cialis are broadcast. I work with young children learning tennis and encourage them to watch tennis matches. Surely there are sponsors that are more geared to the tennis audience. Thanks for your help in bringing this issue to our attention.

Sheila Evans
Executive Director
USTA–A Tennis Association for Kids (atakthenet.com)

Support for Regional Tennis Magazines

The open letter co-written by Jim Martz and Paul Fein in the July 2009 issue hit the nail on the head, and that is, to increase participation and retain players, the efforts must start at the local level. The results show that participation is up, but a significant component to maintaining that increase is local tennis coverage.

Everyone likes to read about themselves, their offspring, their friends and even their opponents. Unfortunately, it’s the local media that is being hit the hardest by the economy, fewer hard-copy readers or simply changing times. Regardless of the cause, the result is the same: less coverage of local players.

By far, the highest percentage of players nationwide resides in the local arena, not on center court!

I definitely agree with Jim and Paul’s suggestion for a partial solution to this decline of local media reporting. Why can’t the USTA or the TIA consider stepping in and assisting with grants, advertisement and out-of-the-box marketing?

What would the harm be in trying this approach? Perhaps the gain would be greater than imagined!

Nancy Morgan
Freelance Tennis Writer
Past President, USTA Florida

From the September 2009 issue
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