In the midst of the NCAA Tournament, one of the biggest pieces of news in the college tennis world was that Arkansas would reinstate its men’s and women’s tennis programs after cutting them just a few weeks ago. As good as the news was for the sport, Arkansas tennis isn’t out of the woods yet. It was bailed out by donors, but that can only last so long.
There is only so much college tennis can do to keep itself afloat. The sport needs help, but it isn’t receiving it.
Media outlets like Cracked Racquets, No-Ad No-Problem, and Not Your Country Club have done a lot with their dedicated coverage of college tennis, but much of their reach is to people who already care about college tennis. And as Arkansas and many other universities have seen, the current support isn’t enough to keep many programs afloat.
Much of the issues with promoting the sport stem from the inaccessibility of it. The men’s and women’s finals were streamed on ESPN+ but weren’t live on a linear ESPN network. Replays were aired the next day, but expecting replays to be a litmus test of how many people are actually watching college tennis is inherently unfair. The streaming broadcast proved that college dual matches can be broadcast even with multiple courts playing matches at once, and there’s no reason space couldn’t have been made for college tennis.
ESPN has the streaming rights, but tennis is a low-priority sport for them. In past years, the NCAA Tournament (or at least the finals) has aired on Tennis Channel, a much more fitting home that could has showcased college tennis to potential new fans in recent years.
Both the men’s and women’s final took place after Tennis Channel’s big event of the day: the ATP Rome final. It wasn’t the most riveting match, and the whole afternoon of Tennis Channel’s broadcast could have held the dramatic NCAA finals on the main channel. Instead, they were relegated to far less reach on ESPN streaming.
College tennis can’t fully control the TV broadcasts. It needs coverage that legitimately cares about growing the sport, and the existing college tennis media can’t do that on their own either. TV is essential for the sport to reach a wider audience, and right now the full potential and reach of college tennis isn’t being realized.
Oftentimes, the attention college tennis gets is negative. Arkansas cutting its programs sparked larger discussions about the place of non-revenue sports in college athletics, and Patrick McEnroe has recently expressed concerns about the growing number of international students in college tennis. To have an important figure in the tennis world draw such a negative light to college tennis doesn’t grow the sport; it harms it.
And then there’s the NCAA Tournament itself–more specifically, the final site. Right now, the USTA has a ten-year deal to host the last three rounds of the NCAA Tournament starting in 2028, but this year’s edition of the tournament has brought much objection to that. The event being held in Athens, Georgia was widely praised, with its atmosphere being a boost for the sport. Moving the tournament to the USTA National Campus rather than an actual campus site could be incredibly damaging. College tennis has enough problems as it is, and it can’t afford to self-sabotage and lose out on crowds like the ones that showed up in Athens this year.
Ultimately, college tennis has many, many issues. It can’t solve all of them, and it shouldn’t have to. Coaches, players, alumni, and college tennis media are doing the heavy lifting in promoting the sport, but the larger world of tennis and college sports can’t just sit by and watch college tennis struggle to stay afloat. Especially after a season with such a thrilling tournament–including an all-time stunning women’s final–now is the time for college tennis to promote itself. It’s the best team event in all of tennis, and the world should know it.
Main Photo Credit: Clayton Freeman/Florida Times-Union]
