The Rules of Tennis
Revenues from advertising is an essential part of the tennis ecosystem. It is conventional wisdom that tennis players are likely to have disposable income thus targeting that demographic makes sense. Additionally, as a culture tennis players usually spend pretty liberally on anything that even hints at improved performance or enjoyment of the sport.
Appendix IV of the ITF Rules of Tennis as reprinted in the USTA Friend at Court contains the regulations on how advertising can be placed on the court. This is completely separate from the Grand Slam Rule book as well as the rulebooks for the ATP and WTA tours. Those sources more or less say “we like money.”
For players under the USTA and ITF jurisdiction, the regulations are more focused on protection of playing conditions and non-interference with player vision. The first section of the rule is addresses legal placement of advertising on the net.
Advertising is permitted on the net as long as it is placed on the part of the net that is within 3 feet (0.914 m) from the centre of the net posts and is produced in such a way that it does not interfere with the vision of the players or the playing conditions.
USTA Friend at Court, Appendix IV Excerpt
I happened to have a picture in my camera roll that captures a sign from a sponsored tournament that my country club hosts each year. I think I took it in a moment of “Look, Ma! No balls in the net” after a session with the ball machine last winter. When I went searching through the pictures on my phone for this post, I suddenly realized that the sign is illegally placed. I had never noticed previously.
The sign is clearly not within 3 feet of the net post. Additionally, it interferes with player vision down the alley. The rules subsequently also indicate that signage may not be predominately white or yellow as those colors might interfere with the vision of the players. This particular sign is literally a big yellow tennis ball. It doesn’t really bother me and I haven’t heard anybody complain.
It’s really not any more distracting than the “blended” pickleball lines that also crisscross this particular court.
- United States Tennis Association (2021), Friend at Court: Handbook of Rules and Regulations, White Plains, NY
