By Tom Hendry and Norb Pendergast @MKTG

Oh, please say this isn’t another piece about the seemingly meteoric rise of Pickleball…

We’ve already survived a year of meetings where the ‘P’ word was mentioned almost as much as ChatGPT…but…after a resurgent year and a half is tennis (remember that old game?) dusting itself off and putting the new pretender back in its place? And how’s the game looking domestically in the US – the engine room of the sport globally both in terms of revenue and viewership. We surveyed over a thousand US tennis fans of all ages to see if the game is staying in the tramlines for the next few years.

The much-trailed demise of the ‘golden era’ looks like it is coming to fruition in the men’s game with 22-year-old Jannik Sinner finally putting an end to Djokovic’s 33 match win streak in Melbourne and hot on his heels is 21-year-old Carlos Alcaraz who has already collected 4 Grand Slams including back-to-back Wimbledon titles.

Over a third of the US population reports an interest in professional tennis, ranking it higher in popularity than the PGA Tour, F1 and, yes, a hell of a lot higher than the Pro Pickleball Association.

The health of the sport in America, long dependent on a line of domestic champions is starting to look strong in both the women and men with three Americans in the top 15 of the men’s world rankings and three women in their top ten. Over two thirds of American tennis fans will tune in for American players while 70% admitted that American success drove their interest in the US Open.

Over 95% of fans believe tennis has made equal or better strides in gender equality while in Francis Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, Chris Eubanks, and Coco Gauff the game is seen as resonating among a wider, younger, and more diverse audience. Beyond just their talent, this new crop of stars are gaining attention for their off-court personalities, social/political commentary, and a sense of fashion and culture that speak to the times.

While ratings are always impacted by the popularity of the players competing, on the whole tennis global viewership has been increasing for several years. Attendances are also up across the board with all four Grand Slams setting all-time attendance records in 2023. While the US Open welcomed almost one million fans in ’23, the Australian Open broke that milestone earlier this year with a total attendance of 1,020,763, almost 200,000 more than its record set in 2023. Fans are also getting into the action beyond just spectating as a USTA study confirmed participation in tennis domestically increased by one million players in 2022, marking the third consecutive year of growth. The 23.6 million people playing the sport represents an increase of 5.9 million, or 33%, since the start of 2020. And it’s not just fans who are finding tennis more rewarding. In addition to prize money being at an all-time high, players are also being compensated off the court at record levels. One prominent female tennis player’s rate for Name & Likeness deals has risen as much as 30% from 2021 to 2023.

And good news for sponsors, tennis fans like you! They’re 8% more receptive to sponsor messaging than the typical sports fan and 66% indicate they feel better about brands who sponsor their favorite events.

It’s not all strawberries and cream though.

Tennis is still suffering from an awareness and confusion problem below the four Majors as 31% of fans view the frustration around finding matches on TV as one of the biggest issues facing the sport. Then there’s the Saudi investment in both the ATP and WTA earlier this year that has received mixed reviews as well as a growing call amongst players for better working conditions, specifically related to scheduling and standardized equipment. This last point is having a negative impact on players physical and mental health, as we witnessed with the very public Naomi Osaka incident in 2021.

The reality is that Pickleball and tennis are the best of frenemies. Each drives the other and whilst we’re likely to still have to answer a few more questions on the new pretender, it’s good old-fashioned tennis that’s still holding its commercial serve.