Tennis Industry News

Sportime at Randall’s Island, located 15 minutes from the US Open site, and the home to the Sportime NY World TeamTennis team featuring John McEnroe, opened its doors in June 2009 and has quickly become one of the largest and most popular tennis complexes in Manhattan.

The $16 million facility features 20 courts: 10 Deco-Turf and 10 Har-Tru. Five of the courts are permanently covered and the other 15 are housed in three state-of-the-art air structures during the indoor season, making Sportime at Randall’s Island one of the few facilities left in Manhattan that offers indoor courts.

“A lot of the indoor facilities have been pushed out by real estate and the expenses it takes to run an indoor tennis facility in the city,” says Claude Okin, managing partner of Sportime. “You know there is a need for a facility like this in New York when in the first year of operation, we already have more than 1,000 junior players participating in instructional programs and almost 3,000 players in the club.”

But the facility has not just experienced success because it has a lot of courts. According to Okin, it’s all about programming and offering what the players want.
“The cost of operation is high, especially when you’re in a climate with indoor courts, so the key is to fill as many of your courts as many hours of the day as possible with creative programming,” he says.

“Business has completely changed in the past few decades. People don’t arrange things on their own anymore. Tennis clubs have to be like resort operators, where we plan things for our customers to suit their needs and make sure they’re having fun and getting what they’ve paid for.”

Sportime at Randall’s Island offers leagues throughout the day, for every level of player. “We also support all USTA and TIA initiatives,” says Okin, including QuickStart Tennis and Cardio Tennis. Both QST and CT have been very successful, he adds, with the QuickStart Tennis format now the only kid’s tennis format offered. Cardio Tennis classes take place every day, and it has also been incorporated into junior programming.

“We have a lot of regionally and nationally ranked juniors who use Cardio Tennis as their fitness program. With live ball drills, they’re playing games and moving up and down courts but having fun at the same time,” says Okin. “It’s a great way to make conditioning fun for younger players.”

The facility hosts USTA tournaments almost every weekend, plans on participating in Tennis Night in America with Youth Registration Night this spring, and hosted a successful USTA Block Party in the fall with 1,500 people attending. They spent close to $50,000 for the event, which took place around the time of the US Open to stimulate interest in the club and the tournament.

Despite all this, Okin says there are still a lot of things they want to do to make Sportime at Randall’s Island the ultimate tennis haven. “We would eventually like to add 10 more courts and someday become the biggest indoor/outdoor facility in the world,” he says. “We also want to grow the game in the city by providing access to adult and juniors no matter of socio or economic background. We already have some scholarship programs in place for underprivileged kids and are looking to offer more in the future.”

To learn more about Sportime at Randall’s Island, go to www.SportimeNY.com/RandallsIsland