Across the Net: The USTA’s Role in the Decline of Tennis in the U.S.

Posted by Dan Martin on 10.09.2006

Who is responsible for the decline of tennis in the U.S.? Look no further than the very organization entrusted with promoting the sport - The USTA.

This Week in Tennis

Roger Federer defeated Tim Henman to win his 9th title of the year at the Tokyo Open. Federer's results are helping him move toward the all time consecutive weeks at #1 mark. If Federer holds the #1 ranking through February 2007 he will have been #1 for a record 161 consecutive weeks. Federer is currently third behind Ivan Lendl's 157 consecutive weeks and Jimmy Connors' 160 continuous weeks at the top. Now to the topic at hand ...

The Rise and Fall of Tennis

Although I was a child in the late 1970's and early 1980's, I hear that tennis was big during that time period. It may have even been the fourth largest sport in the U.S. behind baseball, football and basketball. In the psyche of today's sports fan, tennis clearly lags behind NASCAR, golf and hockey, and is not appreciably more popular than several other peripheral sports.

How did tennis fall from such lofty heights?

Some of tennis' decline is tied into the very fabric of the reality that faces consumers. Today's sports viewers have access to upwards of 100 television channels and internet access to events, sporting and otherwise, from around the globe. This reality has driven ratings down for sports such as the NBA. However, I do not think the growth of mass media fully accounts for the decline in tennis' popularity. A majority of the blame for tennis' marginalization rests squarely on the shoulders of the organization entrusted with growing the sport. Namely, the United States Tennis Association has seemingly done little to promote the sport.

I will make my arguments about the USTA's culpability based largely on anecdotal evidence. I played junior tennis when I was in high school and coached a high school tennis team as an adult. These experiences provide a foundation for critiquing the mighty USTA.

As a child, I watched my Dad play tennis at the park with his friends. The sport always seemed interesting to me. Once my coordination hit a certain level, I was hitting tennis balls against the wall of my unfinished basement with a wooden racket. I fondly remember Boris Becker winning Wimbledon at 17 in 1985. My father's interest in the sport and Becker's Wimbledon title instilled in me a desire to learn how to play tennis. I took a few group tennis clinics and started playing tennis on weekends against the son of the guy my Dad has been playing for decades. After three years of playing tennis every weekend that weather permitted, I finally discovered the USTA and the circuit of junior tournaments that I would have preferred to tee ball and little league.

This experience raises certain questions: Why is it that my Dad and his friends who had been playing tennis every weekend for years had never heard of the USTA? Why is it that the pros who conducted the junior clinics I took part in never mentioned the USTA? It seems as though people who are serious about tennis would be a natural market for growing membership in the USTA and increasing the number of participants in USTA tournaments. Yet, for some reason the USTA was almost as well hidden as the Ten Commandments in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Perhaps, this was a function of the early 1990's or of the Louisville tennis community. Perhaps …

During my high school years, I played USTA tournaments. In college, I drifted away from playing tennis yet continued to follow the professionals on T.V. However, I took the sport up again in my mid-20's. During my tenure as a high school teacher, I coached a high school tennis team. Most of my players had been "park players" who maybe took a clinic or two prior to high school. None of them had heard of the USTA let alone participated in USTA junior tournaments. More frighteningly even the players who took private lessons at country clubs were not members of the USTA. They were oblivious to the local circuit of junior tournaments. The most frustrating aspect of this was that I coached some excellent athletes with a true knack for tennis who received less than ideal formation in the sport due to USTA negligence.

This raises other questions in my mind. A decade later and in a different city, the USTA had not made its presence felt among players who were A. interested in the sport and B. talented. Why do parents know about AAU basketball, select soccer, traveling volleyball and not junior tennis tournaments? Rather than concluding that the USTA had simply dropped the ball, I have to wonder if the USTA as an organization does not want tennis to grow. How else does one explain the fact that people who play tennis do not know that the organization in charge of promoting the sport exists?!?!? Either the USTA has the worst marketing advisors on earth, or they don't care to extend the sport to "park players" let alone to people who do not play the sport. How hard is it to leave weather resistant advertisements at parks or insisting that all tennis clinics pass on literature about the USTA?

Why is it important to attract new tennis players?

Golf has experienced a renaissance with the brilliance of Tiger Woods. However, golf was rising in popularity before Woods turned pro. Golf attracted new players from the middle class and its profitability rose. Some aspects of sport do not translate well to TV. Golf's popularity has risen in large part due to having a fan base that actually understands the feeling of hitting a golf ball off of the sweet spot. Similarly, tennis players can appreciate Federer's ability to slice and come over his backhand. Tennis players even understand the tactical implications of each shot. Good luck explaining those things in the broadcast booth while the match is in progress. A set of fans who play tennis mean that the jargon John McEnroe uses such as "approach shots", "serve and volley", "topspin", and "offensive lob" will resonate with the viewers. Furthermore, parents who play tennis encourage their children to do so. By actually trying to grow the sport, the USTA can build a generational market for live professional tournaments, USTA amateur tournaments and television ratings. Imagine that?

What the USTA Should Do to Market Tennis

There is no time to cry over the lost twenty years of promoting tennis. Tennis is actually in a pretty good spot to reclaim some of its lost popularity. Here is an action plan for growing the sport.

1. The USTA needs to reach out to "weekend hackers" and "park players." With better instruction, these players will play better tennis and are likely to enjoy the sport even more. This means they will be more likely to buy tickets to professional tournaments and even promote the sport on their own.

2. The problem of money is not exclusive to tennis anymore. These days all sports seemingly push kids to specialize and play year round. While this is regrettable, tennis is no longer obviously more expensive than soccer, volleyball or football. It is pricey to take tennis lessons, but so are soccer camps and volleyball tournaments. I can also attest that other sports have equipment that is equally or more expensive to that of tennis. The USTA needs to let parents know that the sport will not break the bank.

3. The USTA should spend more time scouting and sponsoring talent and athleticism rather than simply funding the junior players at the top of the rankings. It is often the case that the #1 player in the 12 and under rankings has had a head start on the competition. If a junior champion's uncle is a college player or father is a club pro, his or her dominance is to be expected. That very player might be slow of foot, lack sublime hand eye coordination etc. The USTA has often funded players who already get top flight instruction. In doing so, the USTA is frequently promoting players that do not have professional potential. Instead the USTA needs to identify kids with speed, rackethead speed etc. and not worry so much about their results as pre-teens.

4. The USTA needs to try to get tennis beyond its "white bred" stigma. Venus Williams, Serena Williams and James Blake are all African-American and have all had tremendous success in tennis. Is the USTA trying to grow the sport among African Americans? If not, why not? Spain, Argentina and Chile have all produced tremendous results at the French Open, the Olympics and Davis Cup. Is the USTA working to make tennis the #2 sport (behind soccer) among Spanish speaking U.S. Citizens? If not, why not?

5. The USTA needs to promote junior tennis at a young age. If a kid can play tee ball, why not youth tennis? I will be the first to say that tennis junior tournaments can be cut throat. Why not have 7 and 8 year old players taking clinics and playing in leagues rather than in tournaments? When I am playing tennis these days I tend to see two things: One, a park filled with young kids playing soccer. Two, empty tennis courts next to my court. While I am sure that clinics and youth leagues next to my court would be a distraction, I could learn to get used to it if it means that the sport thrives.

My last point speaks to why I think the USTA does not do more to promote tennis. The tennis establishment may very well fear the uncouth masses joining their clubs and playing against their children in tournaments. They may not want loud kids on the court next to them. Subtly, they let this be known. In doing so, they have marginalized the very sport they enjoy. These are the same people who will complain that their local park has let its courts become cracked and infested with weeds. They never consider the fact that if tennis is unpopular, cities are not going to prioritize it. Perhaps a reversal of the USTA's secrecy will actually lead to an improvement in public facilities for playing a wonderful sport.

Are things 100% bleak for both professional and recreational tennis in the U.S.?

Maybe they are. However, the USTA was appalled by the lack of U.S. success this year at Wimbledon. They put Billy Jean King in charge of player development. King does not have an elitist bone in her body. She has also attempted to promote tennis as a means for combating the obesity epidemic. Given that tennis is a sport one can play into his or her 80's, it actually seems like an intelligent bit of marketing. If the USTA listens to King or pulls George Constanza's do-the-opposite-approach, it might be okay.