Tennis compared to other US sports

[svijk]

When you compare the sport of Tennis for the average US player (50 or above in ranking) to other sports in the US like football, baseball and basketball it is hard to make it a sustainable profession.

For the average tennis player if the equation

(Winnings + Sponsorships - Travel - Coach fees - Food - Fitness fees) less than 100k , then a tennis career does not sound enticing. The net min Salary for the other sports is 400k. Could this be a reason for a shortage of new stars in the game although the spectator interest has not declined?

 

[AM95]

For US tennis..this is not the case.

Tennis is over-popularized by american football, baseball (the worst sport IMO), and basketball. NASCAR (Formula 1 American Style), is more popular then tennis for god-sakes. ESPN doesn't show tennis re-runs..it shows college basketball, football, and occasionally golf. IMO kids are just not getting exposed to tennis as much as other sports.

Tennis is also extremely costly to begin. At private lessons ranging from 60-80 dollars an hour for low-level juniors, its quite easy to see the parental discouragement that kids face, as its 150% cheaper to play basketball. All you need is a hoop and a ball.

Furthermore, the USTA doesn't do squat $h1t in promoting tennis. Do you know how much it costs to enter a low-level junior tournament? 50 bucks..on average. Nationals are 100. Thats insane.

Kids who may have extreme talent aren't getting introduced to the sport, which is why America will, for the moment, never have a Roger Federer