March 1 is Tennis Night in America, and there will be many activities that take place on this important night, including a potential serve for $1 million in Madison Square Garden, the BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup, and the culmination of Youth Registration for upcoming tennis programming.
The winner of the tennis industry’s Racket Up, America! sweepstakes Mrs. Christine Smith of Hurst, Texas will serve a tennis ball in Madison Square Garden on March 1 that could win her $1 million! The serve will be hit to a target during the BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup, which features four of the world’s best women players. The Racket Up, America! promotion ran from July 15 to Sept. 30. Other prizes included a trip for two to the 2010 US Open Men’s Singles and Women’s Doubles finals and 20 $500 tennis merchandise prize packs.
The BNP Paribas Showdown will bring together Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters and Svetlana Kuznetsova, vying for $1.2 million in prize money. For tickets, call 866-858-0008 or visit Ticketmaster.com.
Tennis Night in America is the culmination of four days devoted to Youth Registration for spring and summer programming. The USTA and local tennis facilities across the country will host events from Feb. 26 to March 1 to help jumpstart upcoming junior tennis programs. Rally your community and promote youth participation in tennis by hosting a Youth Registration event (visit tennisnight.com). The USTA will provide all registered events with:

Tennis Forum Sets Path for Future

The third annual TIA Tennis Forum, presented by Tennis Magazine, took place in New York City during the US Open. Industry leaders and many others interested in the future of the tennis business heard about the state of the industry,
various TIA and Growing Tennis initiatives, and plans for moving the sport and industry forward. TIA President Jon Muir said the sport still faces many economic challenges. “The general feeling is that we kind of bottomed out in the third quarter [2009] in terms of racquet shipments,” he said. Tennis ball sales, he added, are now trending relatively flat. However, sales of transition balls are up 63 percent over a year ago. “We’re starting to see the impact in sales and distribution of QuickStart Tennis products.”
Muir referred to recent, continued increases in tennis participation:  “What else can we do to build on the momentum
from a participation standpoint?” he said. “Frequent playersare the ones that fuel the majority of the economic drivers of this industry. If we could get 1 million people—a 20 percent increase in frequent players—to become frequent players,
it will have a huge impact.”

Hit a Million-Dollar Serve on National TV!

Ever dream of serving for the big prize, in front of thousandsof fans?
You can live your dream through a tennis-industrywide sweepstakes called “Racket UP, America!” If you’re the lucky winner, you’ll receive a trip to New York City to attend the “BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup” in Madison Square Garden on March 1, which will feature the top women tennis players in the world.

Racket Up, America!
The “Racket Up, America!” promotion rolled out to consumers in mid-July and it has been generating huge interest.
And now you have a chance to capitalize on this industry-wide promotion, which is designed to drive consumer awareness of tennis while helping to stimulate retail sales. Anyone who buys a new tennis racket—of any brand, and at anytennis retailer or pro shop—through Sept. 30 could win a chance to serve for $1 million, along with a trip for two to the finals of the 2010 US Open. The serve will take place at the BNP Paribas Showdown in New York’s Madison Square Garden on March 1, during Tennis Night in America. To enter, consumers register their purchase at playtennis.com/million. Also available are other prizes totaling $10,000.
What’s in it for you? You can use “Racket Up, America!” to help generate sales in your shop, get more people out on court, and boost your business overall. Go  to PlayTennis.com/Partner to download all you need to help with this romotion—and to use it to your advantage, too. The partner site has ads, web banners, fliers, templates and other material that you can adapt for your business.
But “Racket Up, America!” goes beyond that, too. “It’s a collaborative industry effort to not only stimulate business at retail, but also is a first step in our focus to pursue other opportunities to support the economic health of our industry on a  broader level,” says TIA President Jon Muir.
“The other benefit for this promotion will be to utilize this from a general PR aspect to bring more excitement and interest in our sport and still continue the momentum of frequent-player participation growth in tennis that we have experienced over the last few years.”
So go to playtennis.com/partner and get your customers to “Racket Up!” to help not just your business, but the industry, too.

As Seen on "Live! With Regis & Kelly"
The big news that tennis is the fastest growing traditional participation sport over the last eight years—by a wide margin—was shown on “Live! With Regis & Kelly” in May. Host Regis Philbin, an avid tennis player himself, held up a chart by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association that shows from 2000 to 2008, tennis participation grew by 43 percent, far outpacing every other traditional sport. A distant second place is another racquet sport, racquetball, increasing 11.6 percent in those eight years. The only other sports to show participation increases since 2000 are soccer (up 2.2 percent) and basketball (1 percent). Every other traditional sport declined in participation, including golf (down 4.3 percent).

Tennis Marketplace Report Offers Key Information
The latest issue of The Tennis Marketplace was released in May and includes an overview from the tennis participation survey, Court Activity Monitor, Cardio Tennis survey, player study, market research, retailer cost of doing business, and more.
Some of the findings include:
• Tennis participation grew to nearly 27 million, the highest level in 15 years; participation increased in all categories, including frequent players.
• Play occasions increased 13 percent in 2008.
• Tennis-related indices continue to hold up well against the declining Consumer Confidence Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average.
• Shipments of youth racquets rose through year-end 2008.
• In the specialty retail market, dollar sales of racquets were down 3 percent for 2008.