By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Picture credit score: USTA
The polar vortex has a vise grip on the Northeast.
But indicators of progress are sturdy—tennis is blooming and booming in the US.
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Tennis participation in the US has surged to a brand new excessive of 25.7 million gamers following 5 consecutive years of progress, the USTA introduced in the present day citing information from “third-party analysis corporations.”
The 25.7 million gamers is almost a two million participant improve from 2023, up 1.9 million from 23.8 million, in accordance with USTA information.
In the event you performed tennis on American courts over the previous yr, then you definately not solely preserved these courts from an entire pickleball hijacking, you could properly have observed you weren’t alone.
One in each 12 People performed tennis in 2024—the very best proportion on report, the USTA experiences.
This complete exceeds the five-year common ratio of 1 in 16 People.
It is also an encouraging signal for tennis that the game has grown its taking part in base domestically at a time different sports activities, together with pickleball, basketball, soccer and video video games have additionally grown participant bases.
Listed below are different findings from the USTA’s launch on home participant participation progress in America:
Retained and returning gamers are on the rise with a 5 p.c improve in retention charges over 2023 reaching a five-year excessive, whereas those that returned to the sport after a break of at the very least one yr rose 9 p.c. First time and returning gamers introduced 6.3 million gamers to the sport in 2024 and tennis misplaced the fewest variety of gamers yr over yr since 2020. This balanced momentum represents a super situation for the game – concurrently cultivating dedicated gamers whereas broadening attain.
Tennis is more and more attracting a youthful participant base as gamers underneath 35 powered tennis’ growth in 2024, contributing almost two thirds of all progress (+1.2 million gamers). The youth affect is particularly clear amongst these underneath 25, who drove 45 p.c of complete features. This concentrated progress amongst youthful segments underscores the game’s sturdy attraction to new generations and suggests a promising trajectory for tennis’ future in America.
The sport is more and more extra numerous with 26 p.c progress in Black / African American participation, representing a 662,000 participant improve, and Hispanic gamers up 15.4 p.c, to 4.54 million gamers over 2023. Senior gamers too are on the rise with a 17 p.c improve in progress to 302K members. These traits counsel tennis is strengthening its place as a cornerstone of group engagement and wholesome life-style selections.
Tennis reached a brand new milestone in engagement in 2024, with Core gamers (these taking part in 10+ occasions prior to now 12 months) rising to a report 13 million, representing 50 p.c of all members. This growth in dedicated gamers surpassed 2023 by 11 p.c and alerts deepening engagement throughout the game. The rise in frequent gamers has helped drive complete play events to 575 million, a 9 p.c improve over the earlier yr.
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