USTA Section Participation

Increasing Participation with Humility and Respect for the Industry

In mid-February, the USTA announced that tennis participation had continued to increase, albeit at a slower rate than during the surge induced by COVID-19-related policies. Total participation was 27.3 million in 2025. Approximately 8.8% of Americans aged six and older play tennis. This analysis examines participation and its changes for the period from 2019 to 2025. The study excludes the USTA Caribbean section.

Participation by Frequency of Play

All players contribute to the industry in different ways; however, the absolute and relative values of core and hardcore players are most critical. Financially, they drive the industry.

Core players play tennis more than ten times a year (Table I). In 2019, there were 9.2 million core players, or 52.0% of the participants. Between then and 2025, they increased at a CAGR of 7.9% to 14.5 million players, or 53.1% of total participants.

Hardcore players are a subset of core players. They play at least twenty-one times per year. There were 4.6 million hardcore players in 2019. Between then and 2025, they increased at a CAGR of 9.2% to a total of 7.8 million players.

Participation by Age Groups

It is essential to understand the rapidly changing demographics in the U.S. population, given their impacts on society and the tennis industry. In summary, all age categories showed significant gains in the number of participants (Table II).

• Participation in the Senior 55+ category showed abnormally high participation gains, 3.1 million. This is consistent with the aging of the baby boomers.

• The much larger and more important age category, 25-54, increased by 3.7 million. The CAGR for the prime age group was 6.1% compared to 17.5% for the seniors.

• The lowest rates of CAGR were for the two youngest groups. The lower rate of growth was a result of lower fertility rates in most racial and ethnic groups.

Participation by Favorite Venue

A case could be made that the most valuable information in the report is the data that identifies where participants prefer to play. This data provides industry leaders with information to understand where services must be provided to meet the needs of participants. Indirectly, it may provide insight into what types of services they prefer.

In 2019, the participants (17.7 million) identified parks, schools and colleges, recreation centers, and private tennis clubs as their preferred venues for playing tennis. By comparison, in 2025, the same venues were listed as the top preferences, but the percentages were slightly different for the 27.3 million participants (Table III).

Between 2019 and 2025, the following preferences changed by a total of 5.8 million. The level of increase by venue follows:

• Park facilities +3.2 million participants.

• Recreation centers +1.2 million participants.

• Private tennis clubs +900,000 participants.

• Schools and colleges +700,000 participants.

Table III provides the participation levels for the preferred venues.

Some questions may arise because of the increase in participation.

• Were facilities capable of managing the increased demand?

• Were they able to convert the increased activity into greater profits?

• Did they have the court capacity to deal with it, or did they build additional facilities?

• Was it necessary to hire additional staff or teaching professionals to meet the additional customer demand?

• Did pickleball play a role in determining their preferred venue?

Participation in the USTA Sections (2019 to 2025)

The data in Table IV analyzes participation data within the USTA sections.

• Between 2019 and 2025, U.S. tennis participation increased by 9.6 million.

• Participation increased in all sixteen sections, ranging from 48,000 in Northern to 1.2 million in Southern and Texas (Table V). Increased participation was broad-based, albeit at different rates.

• In 2019, eight sections had fewer than one million participants, and Hawaii participation was not tracked. In 2025, three sections had fewer than one million participants.

• About 67.7% of all participants live in the top seven divisions. They accounted for 69.3% of the increase in participation between 2019 and 2025. (Yes, the rich got a little bit richer – but just by a little bit).

• Between 2019 and 2025, seven sections increased their share of total participation (calculations not shown): Southern California, Texas, Florida, Northern California, New England, Pacific NW, and Middle States. Tennis on the West Coast posted strong gains. There were 12.6 million participants in these sections, or 46.2% of all participants. Significant growth occurred in sections of all sizes.

• The tennis participation rate measures the percentage of tennis players in the U.S. population, greater than five years old. The overall participation rate is 8.8%. Seven sections have participation rates greater than 8.8% (Eastern, Southern California, Texas, Florida, Northern California, Mid-Atlantic, and New England). There are 14.1 million participants in these sections, or 51.6% of all participants.

The Effect of COVID-Related Policies on Participation

Historically, external factors such as Title IX, the Battle of the Sexes, and COVID-19-related policies have produced most spikes in tennis participation. This section analyzes the change in tennis participation during the COVID and Post-COVID eras (Table V).

Tennis participation increased by 5.9 million during the COVID era (2020-2022) and 3.7 million in the post-COVID era (2023 -2025).

About two-thirds of the COVID-era participation growth occurred in 2020 (3.9 million). This increase in growth was more than during the three-year post-COVID era (3.7 million).

The data suggests that many tennis participants attracted during the COVID era are continuing to play. Additional participants were attracted during the post-COVID era. A case could be made that the industry might have effectively attracted and retained participants during the COVID and post-COVID eras.

During the COVID era, five sections (Southern, Texas, Southern California, Pacific Northwest, and Florida) added 3.49 million participants, or 59.1% of the COVID era total (5.9 million). Midwest, the largest section, reported no change in participation for the period.

Four sections (Midwest, Eastern, Southern California, and Texas) added 2.2 million participants, or 59.5%, of the 3.7 million during the post-COVID era. At the other end of the spectrum, there was no change in participation for the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain sections during the post-COVID era.

Between 2019 and 2025, changes were broad-based, but overall growth and change within the sections were not consistent. For example, changes in 2020 ranged from 36,000 to 800,000. There was a different story in 2025. Total participation increased by 1.6 million in 2025. The changes in the sections ranged from -100,000 to 200,000.

During this six-year period, the changes were sufficient to pull the tennis industry out of a decade of stagnancy.

Takeaways – Moving Forward with Respect and Humility

The takeaways from this analysis fall into four categories.

Data is a Critical Business Asset

The sports industry has a long history of gathering and using participation and demographic data to make smarter business decisions. It is akin to charting a tennis match and using the results to improve performance. The current data suggests there is more that can be done within the sixteen sections to strengthen the industry. Additional data would allow for better decisions. It must be easily accessible, preferably in the public domain. Most importantly, data must be used by stakeholders to benefit the industry.

Grassroots (sectional) Participation Growth Requires Cooperation

The USTA Sections provide a loose infrastructure that could be better utilized for cooperatively managing “the growth of tennis.” Sections range from 98,000 to 3.6 million participants. Only five sections have more than two million participants. Each section is unique in its geographic size, demographics, climate, population, number of tennis participants, facilities, and priorities. Managing these differences can be more efficient with improved access to information and greater cooperation between industry stakeholders.

The Lost Decade for Participation

Industry leaders must remember that tennis participation reached a peak of 30.1 million players in 2009 when the U.S. had a population of 307 million. The Lost Decade occurred over the next ten years. Tennis participation declined to 17.3 million in 2019, when the U.S. population was 328 million.

Thanks to the spike in participation caused by COVID-related policies, tennis has rebounded. In 2025, there were 27.3 million participants, and the U.S. population was 344 million. Hats off to the industry for working together to Make Tennis Relevant Again (MTRA).

Industry leaders must ask the tough questions. What caused tennis participation to fall off the cliff? Why did it take so long to get it turned around? What happened in 2020 to cause participation trends to reverse their course? During the COVID-era, did the USTA CEO quietly take steps to bring the industry together and focus on increasing participation? What has the tennis industry done to attract and retain participants while tennis was regaining its relevance?

Respect and Support the Tennis Professionals and Their Organizations

MTRA has been a team effort. The teaching professionals are the “boots on the ground.” They attract and retain players in all market segments. They are credible in the industry because they are certified, value continuing education, and support their peers, members of the industry, and the USTA. That is what they do! If increasing participation is a priority in 2026, the chances for success are greater if the team that recovered 9.6 million participants and made tennis relevant again continues to lead the charge.

There is one caveat. The USTA must refocus its efforts on supporting the growth of tennis! Its new leadership must collaborate, communicate, and support the teaching professionals and their existing certifying organizations, rather than continually competing against them. It is the USTA’s responsibility to work with the entire industry and support them.

The chances of continued increased participation are greater if the USTA moves forward with respect and humility.

In addition, Gary Horvath has conducted extensive business and economic research that has largely supported the state of Colorado's economic development efforts.