Racket Sports Industry News September 2025

Your One-Stop Event Resource for Racquet Sports

The top Racket Business menu includes the Events button. We encourage our readers to use this button as a helpful resource when planning for education, travel, and networking. Here is what you can find under Events:

• National and international racquet sports events

• Grand Slam events with ticket information

• Four women-specific conferences (3 in the USA, 1 in the UK)

• International events in London, Barcelona, Munich, Hamburg, Costa Rica, and Milan.

At the top of the page, we also list training courses and certification workshops for tennis, pickleball, padel, platform tennis, and cardio tennis.

JTCC News

JTCC Names Martin Blackman CEO. Former USTA Executive Who Led Resurgence in American Tennis Returns to JTCC To Lead Junior Development from the Ground Up
Press Release

USTA Florida

USTA Florida Hosts Advocacy Workshop To Empower Tennis Leaders Across Florida. USTA Florida hosted an inspiring Advocacy Workshop at the Palm Beach Gardens Tennis and Pickleball Center, uniting tennis leaders, local government officials, and community advocates to explore impactful strategies for growing the sport and strengthening partnerships with municipalities. 

USTA

Rome Tennis Center at Berry College Receives 2025 USTA Outstanding Facility Award. Rome Tennis Center is one of 45 Tennis Facilities from Across the Country Honored for Excellence
Press Release

INTENNSE

Team Atlanta Defeats Team Tampa and Claims First Ever INTENNSE™ Tennis Championship.
Press Release

REDBULL

Coolest tennis courts to play on in the US. Whether you’re a casual player or a tennis enthusiast, these unique locations combine top-tier tennis with unbeatable surroundings.
Article

WTA TOUR

WTA Tour agreed a six-year U.S. rights deal with Tennis Channel through 2032; U.S.-hosted events fall under other contracts.
Press Release

WEBWIRE

ATP & PIF Announce Tennis IQ Powered by Pif, Unlocking Access to Performance Analytics for More Players. ATP and PIF have today unveiled ATP Tennis IQ Powered by PIF, an enhanced performance analytics platform delivering richer data insights to all singles players across the PIF ATP Rankings.

Article

IBM

IBM and the USTA Roll Out AI-Powered Fan Experiences for 2025 US Open.

• ‘Match Chat’ AI assistant answers questions in real-time, during and after all 254 singles matches

• Enhanced IBM SlamTracker to offer live Likelihood to Win projections, while ‘Key Points’ instantly summarizes articles on USOpen.org and the US Open app

• New global IBM survey confirms demand for AI-powered fan experiences on the rise

Press Release

SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL

ITA taps PlayReplay for electronic line-calling in collegiate tennis.
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) has signed a three-year partnership with electronic line-calling vendor PlayReplay to bring ELC to college tennis.
Article

Rebalancing Scholarship Opportunities to Strengthen USA Olympic Sports

I spent four decades working overseas, nearly half of that in Africa.  I was fortunate to assist over 100 student-athletes from Africa and Pacific Oceania gain USA scholarships, mainly to Junior Colleges.  In the past 30 years, the amount of Americans gaining scholarships has steadily declined.

When I returned to the USA in 2012 to coach at the junior college level, I saw a striking shift.  Just a year earlier, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Board of Directors had capped international scholarships at 25% per team – a fair compromise to preserve opportunities for Americans while still welcoming internationals.  But in 2015, the NJCAA lifted that cap, and the floodgates opened.  Well-funded placement services in Europe and Asia quickly filled rosters, while Sub Saharan African athletes, often unable to afford a service fee were left behind. 

The imbalance is clear.  In 2021, junior college programs showed this breakdown.

Combined totals (men + women): 
Americans: 32 (27%)
Internationals: 84 (74%)
Africans: 5 (4%). 

At the 2024 NJCAA Division I Women’s National Championships, internationals won every singles flight (#1-#6).  In 2025, Hillsborough Community College claimed the women’s national title with a roster of one American and eight internationals.  If this trend continues, will the third best tennis player, swimmer or track athlete from Michigan, New Mexico, or Iowa even be considered for a scholarship?  Americans lose each time, when to “win”, the junior college coach gives their scholarship to the higher-ranked 13^th best athlete from Spain, Australia or Thailand.  

Contrast this to European Basketball Leagues where rules often cap teams at two or three foreign players to protect domestic development.  Would any other nation provide 50% of their scholarships to internationals?

I support international scholarships, however it is clear that American athletes are losing opportunities at home, while Sub-Saharan African athletes struggle to gain a fair share of USA scholarships.  The growth of Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) has tilted resources toward football and basketball, leaving Olympic sports underfunded.  If NCAA and Junior College scholarships continue to flow primarily to internationals from wealthier regions, the United States risks undermining both its own Olympic pipeline and the broader principle of global fair play.  A balanced system — where Americans, Africans, and other internationals share equitably -- will strengthen USA sports, widen access for overlooked talent, and uphold the values of opportunity and inclusion that sport is meant to represent.

Dan O’Connell --- [email protected] 

“IT’S NOT HITTING WINNERS THAT MATTERS MORE IN TENNIS, IT’S FORCING ERRORS!”

Unknown

"Losing is not my enemy... Fear of losing is my enemy."

Rafa Nadal