Tennis News You Can Use
The USTA sent an email late last week promoting May as #NationalTennisMonth. That message did not go out to all USTA members and the best guess is that it was directed toward tennis service providers. In fact, the links in the message are to a “Marketing Generator” that tennis service providers can use. The marketing generator is basically a set of templates for the USTA Net Generation program. A service provider can edit these templates to add their own logo and facility information. The finished products are available for download which means that it is up to the service providers to contract printing services.
There is a related press release on the USTA website that was released at the same time that is targeted toward the broader tennis community. The USTA website leads with yet another reminder of the positive health benefits of tennis that were dissected in “Geeking Out over Tennis Participation Data in the Physical Activity Council Report” that was released back in February. It is not clear what the shelf life is of that report as a lead item in news stories, but two months later the USTA is still going strong with that messaging.
I am genuinely happy to see the USTA rolling out a new program in the promotion of tennis. I am certainly going to play along during #NationalTennisMonth in May. At the same time, as I pulled back the curtain on this new initiative the details were underwhelming. Essentially the message is that #NationalTennisMonth is a time for tennis service providers to put together their own marketing campaigns.
I am still hopeful that #NationalTennisMonth will be accompanies by a national media marketing blitz sponsored by the USTA. I’m not holding my breath that one, however.
Celebrating National Tennis Month in May, USTA Press Release, April 27, 2021.
