GOOD NEWS FOR TENNIS

SGMA Study: Tennis Thriving While Others Sports Sag

It’s said that the numbers never lie. If that’s so, things are looking up for all things tennis. A recent Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) study shows that while participation in traditional sports like baseball and basketball significantly fell off over the six-year stretch between ‘00 and ‘05, tennis surged a generous 12 percent. Only golf (2.4 percent) and football (2.1 percent) joined tennis on the positive side, while other sports experienced significant declines.

“From a racket and ball standpoint, these have been the strongest consecutive three years in the last couple of decades,” said Tennis Industry Association (TIA) chief Kurt Kamperman.

The SGMA numbers show that tennis ball sales (always a good barometer) rose 8 percent in ‘06, and sales of rackets spiked 27 percent between ‘03 and ‘06. While several factors account for the growth, retailers credit an influx of first-time players.

USTA programs also reflected the trend in ‘06, including League (up 5 percent), Tournaments (5.5 percent), Junior Team Tennis (16 percent) and Tennis on Campus (20 percent).

 

U.S. Open Series Proving a Formula for Success

To think it once seemed a curious novelty. But in its fourth year, the U.S. Open Series — the sixweek summer swing that links ATP and WTA events leading up to the U.S. Open — now seems as much a part of the game as the overhead smash.

It’s proven a smashing success, too, on both TV and at the ticket office. Last year, the 10 tournaments totaled 994,000 in attendance.

Coupled with its namesake Grand Slam that’s 1.6 million fans. Plus, the U.S. Open Series delivered 200 hours of live coverage (a TV viewership of 42 million) and 1.8 million website visits.

Those are significant numbers considering that, prior to the U.S.

Open Series’ existence, in ‘03, those same events accounted for only 923,000 in ticket sales, just 83 live hours of TV coverage and 20 million viewers.

Surprisingly, the surge comes in an era of unprecedented globalization.

The U.S. has seen its schedule shrink as tournaments head overseas. Dallas is now Tokyo. Newport is Milan. Boston is Paris. Scottsdale is Doha. In the ‘80s, 65 percent of all ATP events were played on U.S. soil. Today, that number has withered to 32 percent.

 

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