Tennis also is the only traditional participation sport to see an increase in overall participation over the last eight years.
The number of people playing tennis in the U.S. and the number of tennis “play occasions” increased in 2015, according to the latest figures released by the Tennis Industry Association (TIA) and U.S. Tennis Association (USTA), which were part of the Physical Activity Council (PAC) Annual Participation Study.
In addition, the PAC study shows that tennis is the only traditional participation sport to see an increase in overall participation over the last eight years—increasing 6% since 2007. All other traditional participation sports—soccer, basketball, baseball, football, volleyball, golf, fishing and racquetball—saw declines in that time period. The PAC study is the largest single-source independent sports participation survey in the U.S., measuring participation in more than 120 sports and activities.
For 2015, total tennis players numbered 17.96 million, which is a .3% increase from 2014, according to the PAC study. “Core” tennis players—those who play 10 or more times a year—increased .5% to 9.96 million. The number of tennis “play occasions” also increased in 2015, both overall and for core players. Overall play occasions were up .8% to 446.4 million; core players accounted for 418.3 million of those play occasions.
Read the entire press release here.
Louis Bolling 