By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Photo credit: USTA
The polar vortex has a vise grip on the Northeast.
Yet signs of growth are strong—tennis is blooming and booming in the United States.
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Tennis participation in the United States has surged to a new high of 25.7 million players following five consecutive years of growth, the USTA announced today citing data from “third-party research firms.”
The 25.7 million players is nearly a two million player increase from 2023, up 1.9 million from 23.8 million, according to USTA data.
If you played tennis on American courts over the past year, then you not only preserved those courts from a complete pickleball hijacking, you may well have noticed you were not alone.
One in every 12 Americans played tennis in 2024—the highest proportion on record, the USTA reports.
This total exceeds the five-year average ratio of one in 16 Americans.
It’s also an encouraging sign for tennis that the sport has grown its playing base domestically at a time other sports, including pickleball, basketball, soccer and video games have also grown player bases.
Here are other findings from the USTA’s release on domestic player participation growth in America:
Retained and returning players are on the rise with a five percent increase in retention rates over 2023 reaching a five-year high, while those who returned to the game after a break of at least one year rose nine percent. First time and returning players brought 6.3 million players to the game in 2024 and tennis lost the fewest number of players year over year since 2020. This balanced momentum represents an ideal scenario for the sport – simultaneously cultivating committed players while broadening reach.
Tennis is increasingly attracting a younger player base as players under 35 powered tennis’ expansion in 2024, contributing nearly two thirds of all growth (+1.2 million players). The youth influence is especially clear among those under 25, who drove 45 percent of total gains. This concentrated growth among younger segments underscores the sport’s strong appeal to new generations and suggests a promising trajectory for tennis’ future in America.
The game is increasingly more diverse with 26 percent growth in Black / African American participation, representing a 662,000 player increase, and Hispanic players up 15.4 percent, to 4.54 million players over 2023. Senior players too are on the rise with a 17 percent increase in growth to 302K participants. These trends suggest tennis is strengthening its position as a cornerstone of community engagement and healthy lifestyle choices.
Tennis reached a new milestone in engagement in 2024, with Core players (those playing 10+ times in the past 12 months) growing to a record 13 million, representing 50 percent of all participants. This expansion in committed players surpassed 2023 by 11 percent and signals deepening engagement across the sport. The rise in frequent players has helped drive total play occasions to 575 million, a nine percent increase over the previous year.
