Tennis participation in the USA rose to 25.7 million gamers in 2024, the game’s fifth consecutive 12 months of progress, the U.S. Tennis Affiliation mentioned Wednesday, citing an evaluation of numbers drawn from two research not but totally launched.
The soar of 1.9 million gamers from 2023’s whole of 23.8 million individuals represents an 8% improve and means one in 12 Individuals performed tennis final 12 months, the USTA mentioned.
USTA CEO Lew Sherr mentioned his group — which oversees tennis within the nation and runs the US Open — goals to get the game’s whole individuals in the USA to 35 million by 2035, which he calls “a aim that’s each actionable and achievable.”
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To assist attain it, the USTA on Wednesday pledged $10 million in grants in 2025 “to assist construct, refurbish and lengthen playable hours on courts throughout the USA.” That’s up from final 12 months’s dedication of $1.2 million, which lined greater than 500 courts open to the general public.
That is all towards a backdrop of the surging recognition of pickleball, which has jumped from practically no presence within the U.S. to greater than 13 million Individuals over three years, with its participation figures rising greater than 200% in that span.
The statistics the USTA touted Wednesday are primarily based on the Nationwide Golf Basis’s compilation of knowledge from two surveys that the USTA helps fund, every of 18,000 folks aged 6 and over: the Bodily Exercise Council (PAC) Research on Sports activities and Bodily Exercise, and the PLAY research.
Different findings famous by the USTA embrace:
• Gamers underneath age 25 drove 45% of the expansion in tennis participation final 12 months, whereas these underneath 35 accounted for greater than 60%.
• There was 26% progress amongst Black gamers and 15% amongst Hispanic gamers for tennis in 2024.
• The variety of seniors taking part in tennis rose 17% final 12 months.
