Tennis Industry News

For 2012, the TIA will offer a comprehensive menu of webinars for industry businesses. Topics are subject to change, so check out TennisIndustry.org/webinars for the latest times, dates, and to sign up.

[Read more →]

Playtennis.com is set to re-launch in early 2012, bridging the gap between tennis providers and current (as well as potential) tennis consumers. With the re-launch of the site consumers will be able to search for places to play, find playing partners, search for programming, locate tennis instructors, and much more. The site will remain brand neutral, helping to convey the simple unified industry message of what this new site is all about—getting people to "play tennis." You can help promote this industry-wide effort by utilizing the free marketing materials available at www.tennisindustry.org/playtennis.

[Read more →]

Grove Park in Atlanta is the official site of the USTA’s 3,000th newly renovated youth-sized tennis court in the U.S., which will be marked by a celebration and dedication on Nov. 30. The City of Atlanta and the USTA will co-host a media event to recognize the public-private partnership that made the renovated court possible.

[Read more →]

The ITF board of directors, at its meeting in early November, approved a rule that allows for a two-year trial in which the stage 1 green ball can be used as an optional ball for all competitive play, except at the highest levels. The trial period begins in January 2012, and each national federation will be able to decide which national competitive events can use the green ball.

[Read more →]

The new PlayTennis.com—coming this March—will be one of the largest unified industry investments and initiatives designed to grow the game and increase the number of frequent players. The website will serve as a “hub” for information and opportunities for consumers to easily get on the pathway to becoming frequent players, which are the key revenue generators of the sport and the key component to sustained growth in all industry sectors.

[Read more →]

One of the most crucial components for any business is a “SWOT” analysis—determining Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. For tennis retailers, this type of assessment is especially critical in today’s economy so businesses can successfully plan and position their operations for growth.

To help tennis retailers evaluate the current state of their businesses, the TIA has partnered with retail industry experts Gluskin Townley Group to offer a Retail Assessment program. This new program consists of a tennis retail business assessment questionnaire—answers are analyzed and used to generate a "Survive or Thrive" assessment report. The scores in the "Survive or Thrive" report cover various benchmarking categories and determine areas of the business that are strong, areas that are neutral, and areas that are weak.

[Read more →]

In addition to the changing competitive landscape for 10 and Under Tennis, the initaitive is having and will continue to have a significant impact at the retail level. In the past 12 months, the USTA has met with a number of mass merchants and chain retailers to share their aggressive plans for marketing 10 and under tennis. With the rule change and the significant consumer marketing the USTA has planned, these meetings have resulted in more of these large retailers carrying 10 and under tennis products and helping to promote 10 and under tennis to their consumer traffic.

[Read more →]

Stacey Allaster, CEO of the Women's Tennis Association, recently gave her annual 'State of the Union' address on the WTA, highlighting that the WTA is "moving into an exciting new era and the WTA has bright new horizons with bright new stars."

[Read more →]

The TIA is currently fielding two brief online surveys, the Cost of Doing Business Facilities Study and the Tennis Pro Compensation Study. These two surveys are a part of the over 70 reports and surveys conducted annually by the Tennis Industry Association.

[Read more →]

As the outdoor tennis season comes to a close in many regions the country, tennis specialty retail stores in the 2011 third quarter have sold nearly a quarter of a million racquets, a 3% increase over Q3 of 2010, according to data collected by the TIA.

[Read more →]