Growing the Sport at Every Level

Tennis has been gaining momentum on many fronts over the last few years. Here are just a few of the Fast Facts about the sport that you should know about, compiled from TIA and USTA data.

Participation & Players

Tennis is the only traditional sport to have a positive participation change since 2000, according to the 2006 SGMA SuperStudy. The sport has had a 12.2% increase, while other participation sports, including baseball, basketball, swimming, and soccer, are showing declines.

In 2006, frequent players -- which are the heart of your market -- increased to 5.2 million, a 10% rise since 2003.
6.1 million new players began playing tennis in 2006.

Industry Sales

Racquet sales have been booming, up 29.7% since 2003.

Racquet sales continue to increase in 2007, up 12.2% over 2006 for the first three quarters.
Year-end total ball shipments in 2006 increased 8.1% (in units) over 2005 and are up 11.5% since 2003.
Ball shipments in the first three quarters of 2007 have increased 3.4% vs. 2006 figures.
Consumer purchases over the internet have increased in all categories apart from tennis balls.

US Open

For the first time in the history of the event, US Open attendance topped 715,587, surpassing the previous all-time high of 659,538. The US Open remains the highest attended annual sporting event in the world.

USOpen.org website traffic increased 11%, with more than 30 million visits and 7.3 million unique visitors.
Over 75 million people watched all or some of the 2007 US Open on television, which was broadcast to more than 180 countries.

(US Open data from the USTA)

Grassroots Initiatives

With Tennis Welcome Centers, Cardio Tennis, and now the new QuickStart Tennis format, the sport has plenty of new ways to grow locally and nationally.

James Blake has joined Maria Sharapova in promoting Tennis Welcome Centers and Cardio Tennis.
The average TWC reported 39 new players and 34 returning players.
82% of TWCs report increased lesson revenue.
Cardio Tennis received 200 million media impressions last year, including major magazines and newspapers.
Denise and Tracy Austin continue as Cardio Tennis spokespeople, and a CT demo was held at Wimbledon during the Davis Cup in September.
USTA will launch QuickStart Tennis, a new format to help kids 10 and under play the game.

Current Research

Research from the TIA's Cost of Doing Business-Facilities Report shows some exciting new stats:

Average annual dues for a tennis-only membership is $768; for all-inclusive membership it's $2,509.
Peak court fees were up from an average of $21 to $23 in 2007.
More facilities had added courts than had removed courts.

Technology

The "GrowingTennis" system is one of the best tools for increasing your business.

In December, 1.45 million queries were made to the "information postcards" that appear on consumer sites in the GrowingTennis system, such as USTA.com, Tennis.com, TennisChannel.com, etc., which more than doubled the number of inquiries made in October.
20,000 facilities are listed in the free national database -- 2,100+ are Tennis Welcome Centers, 1,800+ are Cardio Tennis sites
Online enrollment tools are now featured in the GrowingTennis system and allow for consumer signups and fee collection.

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