USTA League play in January is growing ...

[schmke]

... in a few sections. But participation largely way off from last year comparing January to January as you would expect with continued restrictions in several sections.

See my blog for more details and discussion, but below is a chart I included there showing, by section, the percentage increase/decrease of team matches played, leagues that had matches played, teams per league, and players per league in January.

I bring this up here as data to support what @OnTheLine and others have commented on regarding increased tennis activity and league participation in a few areas. Intermountain is Las Vegas in January for advancing leagues and matches are up 34% in January, but that can be an artifact of scheduling, so the 11% increase in teams and 4.6% in players are the key metrics.

But Southwest has more teams and players per league as well, although their leagues and matches have gone down.

Florida is roughly flat, a little decrease in players, but most other sections are down to way down in USTA League activity in January 2021 compared to 2020. That is to be expected right now, but is still interesting to look at the data that confirms it.

 

[Crazy Finn]

I see Northern isn't on here.

 

[schmke]

I see Northern isn't on here.

No advancing league play in January that I'm aware of, and it is advancing leagues that I used as my criteria for comparison. No PNW or either California section either.

 

[Crazy Finn]

That might be true. They haven't started their Winter league, I haven't paid close attention to whether things are advancing or not, as I'm not currently playing and haven't for a while, now.

 

[OnTheLine]

@schmke you mentioned that it might be a scheduling quirk ... I doubt it.
The leagues in the district have not changed their timing. The first match for 40+ is always the first Saturday of January that is not a holiday ... this year was the 2nd. (next year will get pushed back as I am certain we aren't playing on New Year's Day). Ladies weekday league always starts first Monday of February (today!)

You take an 11% increase in teams .. multiply that out by number of team matches (stupid 40+ rules and that is 4 instead of 5) and that will increase # of matches significantly.

Now one other local change is that they added a flight for 2.5 ladies' 40+ ... I cannot remember if this is the first year of that or the 2nd. I do not think they advance past districts ... but I do not want to be quoted on any of that.

I will say that the past 4 Saturdays have seen all the clubs absolutely packed with players and league matches!

Good times. (except that one match, oh, and that other match )

 

[schmke]

@OnTheLine my point about scheduling was simply that depending on exactly when a league starts in January and if it is weekend vs weekday can influence the number of possible match days, and how those then get used determines matches played. For example, last year January 31 was on a Friday, but this year a Sunday, so this year had an extra weekend over 2020 if there was any play over the 1/2-3 weekend this year.

But clearly the teams/players counts are up indicating growth, and that growth results in more matches. And this isn't just from 4 courts vs 5, that could increase the team count by a few if teams have smaller rosters, but the 4.6% increase in players is real, and could perhaps be in part to the 2.5 ladies.

Still, it is growth, and is in pretty stark contrast to other sections.

 

[TennisOTM]

I think Utah's Winter League would be consistent with the increase you saw in Intermountain (Vegas). This is a non-advancing indoor doubles-only league that just started as it normally does around this date, and participation seems to be way up from last year. In fact, I've played on several league teams here and this is the first that had enough teams for multiple sub-flights.

 

[J_R_B]

Gotta hand it to Middle States for the old college try. Leagues are up, but teams, players, and matches way down.

 

[zipplock]

... in a few sections. But participation largely way off from last year comparing January to January as you would expect with continued restrictions in several sections.

See my blog for more details and discussion, but below is a chart I included there showing, by section, the percentage increase/decrease of team matches played, leagues that had matches played, teams per league, and players per league in January.

I bring this up here as data to support what @OnTheLine and others have commented on regarding increased tennis activity and league participation in a few areas. Intermountain is Las Vegas in January for advancing leagues and matches are up 34% in January, but that can be an artifact of scheduling, so the 11% increase in teams and 4.6% in players are the key metrics.

But Southwest has more teams and players per league as well, although their leagues and matches have gone down.

Florida is roughly flat, a little decrease in players, but most other sections are down to way down in USTA League activity in January 2021 compared to 2020. That is to be expected right now, but is still interesting to look at the data that confirms it.

Looks like all but 2 sections have a decrease in players. I assume that means individuals participating in league play.
Coincidentally, I received an email offering 50% off my membership that is about to expire ...

 

[schmke]

Looks like all but 2 sections have a decrease in players. I assume that means individuals participating in league play.
Coincidentally, I received an email offering 50% off my membership that is about to expire ...

Rather than just looking at total players, the chart is showing the change in players per league. So if the same leagues were played in January in 2020 and 2021, this tells you the change in players. Separately, the change in teams per league and leagues is also shown.

 

[Doan]

Has anyone noticed more college age players doing USTA league ? 3.5 or 4.0 S type players who are now at home doing remote learning and don't have much else to do.

 

[sureshs]

Tennis racket sales up by 40% and tennis participation up by 29%.

 

[Injured Again]

@schmke Our club will have 16 teams for the upcoming 40+ season. A month ago, we were thinking that **if** the season were to happen at all, we'd be lucky to field six or seven teams.

 

[Raul_SJ]

Tennis racket sales up by 40% and tennis participation up by 29%.

Racquet sales up over what time frame?

Up year over year from March 2020, when practically all the clubs were closed, is meaningless.

Present your data and evidence.

 

[Raul_SJ]

... in a few sections. But participation largely way off from last year comparing January to January as you would expect with continued restrictions in several sections.

See my blog for more details and discussion, but below is a chart I included there showing, by section, the percentage increase/decrease of team matches played, leagues that had matches played, teams per league, and players per league in January.

I bring this up here as data to support what @OnTheLine and others have commented on regarding increased tennis activity and league participation in a few areas. Intermountain is Las Vegas in January for advancing leagues and matches are up 34% in January, but that can be an artifact of scheduling, so the 11% increase in teams and 4.6% in players are the key metrics.

But Southwest has more teams and players per league as well, although their leagues and matches have gone down.

Florida is roughly flat, a little decrease in players, but most other sections are down to way down in USTA League activity in January 2021 compared to 2020. That is to be expected right now, but is still interesting to look at the data that confirms it.

Who created this graph? The negative signs are impossible to read -- the colors of the text bleed into the colors of the graph.

 

[OnTheLine]

Racquet sales up over what time frame?

Up year over year from March 2020, when practically all the clubs were closed, is meaningless.

Present your data and evidence.

Wow aren't you just a ray of sunshine.

The data came from the USTA based on a survey done by the Physical Activity Council ... annual survey of 1 million US residents. So the growth is from their annual 2019 vs 2020 surveys.

Very short mention:

Tennis participation increases despite pandemic

Participation in the sport of tennis increased more than 20% in 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey.

www.espn.com

You can get into much more detail here:

Home | Pac Report

www.physicalactivitycouncil.com

 

[sureshs]

Racquet sales up over what time frame?

Up year over year from March 2020, when practically all the clubs were closed, is meaningless.

Present your data and evidence.

This is from end of 2020, compared to the same period the previous year. In another thread, I mentioned stats from RSI magazine. I confirmed that with another magazine. The USTA CEO has commented on that too, and so have several tennis journalists. It is the talk of the tennis town. But you need to be plugged in like me.

 

[Raul_SJ]

. It is the talk of the tennis town. But you need to be plugged in like me.

The "talk of the town" from the 50 league players that we have sampled is that their tennis play has been severely curtailed due to usta leagues being shut down since March 2020. Many parks and clubs were also shut down for most of 2020. Indoor clubs continue to be closed. Many outdoor clubs have restricted doubles play to same households.

The claim that racquet sales have spiked from 2019 (when citizens were free) to covid 2020, when much of California has been under lockdown with clubs closed is incredulous . Of course it is possible that new players have picked up the game and boosted overall sales but the fact remains that league play is way down in SF Bay Area . These regular players are less likely to be purchasing racquets when they are not even playing

We will need to confirm this claim...

As the great Ronald Reagan said, "Trust, but verify!".

 

[sureshs]

The "talk of the town" from the 50 league players that we have sampled is that their tennis play has been severely curtailed due to usta leagues being shut down since March 2020. Many parks and clubs were also shut down for most of 2020. Indoor clubs continue to be closed. Many outdoor clubs have restricted doubles play to same households.

The claim that racquet sales have spiked from 2019 (when citizens were free) to covid 2020, when much of California has been under lockdown with clubs closed is incredulous . Of course it is possible that new players have picked up the game and boosted overall sales but the fact remains that league play is way down in SF Bay Area . These regular players are less likely to be purchasing racquets when they are not even playing

We will need to confirm this claim...

As the great Ronald Reagan said, "Trust, but verify!".

Why don't you just read the tennis magazines instead of speculating with your small sample?

 

[Raul_SJ]

Why don't you just read the tennis magazines instead of speculating with your small sample?

We must be careful with racquet industry propaganda.

This is the same industry that annually hypes every new technology as revolutionary.

Over 50 league players is not a small sample. Not convinced that racquet sales are up in Bay Area. Some of the racquet stores have shut down or have greatly cut their hours. Although consumers could be purchasing online.

Let us also check with USTA which had a huge staff cutback in 2020 due no U.S. Open ticket revenue and lack of membership renewals.

We should possibly expect a boom in USTA membership renewals in 2021 (or at least a strong rebound from 2020) since racquet sales are allegedly booming year over year from 2019 to the covid year 2020.

It does not really quite add up.

Florida is roughly flat, a little decrease in players, but most other sections are down to way down in USTA League activity in January 2021 compared to 2020