Industry Report 2025/26
The Tennis Industry Association UK (TIAUK) has produced its latest Industry Report 2025/26, highlighting key themes and issues in tennis, padel and pickleball. The report includes several case studies demonstrating how leading clubs have implemented practical solutions to address some sector-wide challenges. In addition, it provides contact details of all its members supporting tennis, padel and pickleball in the UK with top-class products and services.
Printed copies of the report are free and can be ordered via phil@tiauk.org
£1750 raised for TIA’s official charity
The Dan Maskell Tennis Trust was the recipient of £1750 raised from an auction at the 2025 Tennis Industry Xmas Lunch, sponsored by Padel XTRA. Items included a tennis ball signed by Carlos Alcaraz, a pair of Eclipson tennis shoes signed by Hubert Hurkacz (donated by Yonex), framed prints of tennis cartoons, a signed Tim Henman shirt and a signed copy of dame Elaine Paige’s book ‘Memories’. Price of Bath also donated tennis ball Xmas baubles for the festive occasion.
Dame Elaine entertained the audience with some great memories from the entertainment and tennis worlds, ably assisted as usual by the event’s Master of Ceremonies, Marcus Buckland. Held at the prestigious Queen’s Club for the eighth consecutive year, attendance was the largest ever for this annual event.
One Team Bulletin
Access the Autumn Edition of the LTA’s ‘One Team Bulletin’
All England Tennis Club extends 36-year IBM deal with AI at core of plans
The deal announced in December will see IBM continue to develop digital experience for fans of Wimbledon. IBM will continue to take the lead role developing artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud for the tournament in its role as digital transformation partner. The long-standing relationship has seen IBM introduce rudimentary stats for the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) in the early 1990s, the first website for Wimbledon grand slams in 1995, and the initial use of AI in 2017.
Now, IBM’s Watson AI, sitting in IBM Cloud, is personalising content in a bid to encourage fans who try out digital platforms to do so again and again. Usama Al-Qassab, commercial director of The All England Lawn Tennis Club, emphasised the importance of IBM’s AI technology: “As we look to attract the next generation of Wimbledon fans from around the world, the AI-powered capabilities of IBM will be key to ensuring our future digital experiences are relevant, personalised and engaging.”
To grow revenue through sponsorship, ticket and merchandise sales and more, the industry must attract more spectators and increase interactions with existing fans. Two digital initiatives at AELTC – Likelihood to Win and Match Chat – drove a 16% rise in fan engagement with the Wimbledon tournament in 2025. Match Chat is built using IBM’s Watsonx AI technologies, including a collection of artificial intelligence agents and large language models (LLMs) trained on the Wimbledon editorial style and tennis jargon. The Likelihood to Win tool uses AI to offer fans a projection of which player is most likely to win, with probabilities dynamically updated throughout matches.
According to IBM, 20 million fans closely followed all the grass court action via the app and website last year, with the app seeing a 19% increase in engagement. IBM commissioned Morning Consult to produce a global survey, which engaged more than 20,000 fans across 12 countries. The survey found that 86% of tennis fans worldwide see value in AI-powered features such as real-time insights and personalised highlights. More than half said they wanted AI-driven commentary and insights for all events, whether past, present or future. Around one in five tennis fans said they use apps tailored to the sport, with fans significantly more likely to reach for apps while attending a sports event.
Curtesy: Computer Weekly
Dates for the Diary
- SAPCA Annual Conference and Awards Dinner – Thursday 26th February 2026
sapca.org.uk - Grounds Management Association Industry Awards – Thursday 12th March 2026
thegma.org.uk - SAPCA AGM – Thursday 19th March
- TIA Spring Forum – Thursday 23rd April 2026 – details available soon
- TIA Summer Social and AGM – Thursday 2nd July 2026
- TIA 2026 Tennis Industry Xmas Lunch – Wednesday 2nd December 2026
Padel and Pickleball News
Hounslow
Hounslow Council is moving forward with plans to deliver a total of six new padel courts to the Council’s racquet sports offer, at two of the Council’s leisure centres. Hanworth and Isleworth Leisure Centres plan to convert 2 of their 4 tennis courts to 3 padel courts at each site. The estimated capital cost for the new courts is £950,000 and the projected additional income across the two leisure centres is £1.4 million.
It is currently estimated that the new courts will be available for spring/summer 2027 and Council partner, Lampton Leisure, will manage the new offer on behalf of the Council.
Council’s current usage data shows a significant decline in tennis participation, with court occupancy falling by 27 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels. The Council believes this presents an opportunity to repurpose existing assets to meet changing community needs and preferences.
Hull
Plans for a pickleball centre have been approved in Hull. The new courts will be built in an empty industrial unit in Sutton Fields. The application is by We Do Tennis CIC, which has numerous sites across the country and also runs pickleball sessions in East Yorkshire.
We Do Tennis said: “Pickleball is massive in America, and we’ve seen the same incredible momentum building here in the UK”
Radlett
7 indoor padel courts are planned at the Encourt Padel and Wellness Club in Ventura Park, Radlett, Herts
Sunderland
True Padel Sunderland has agreed to expand into the adjacent unit at Adderstone Group’s Wessington Retail Park, enabling the club to significantly expand its offer and meet rapidly growing demand.
True Padel currently occupies a 23,000 sq. ft. unit at Wessington Retail Park, housing five doubles courts and two singles courts, alongside café, lounge and function spaces. The expansion will see the club grow to over 33,000 sq. ft., creating space for the addition of four new padel courts or eleven courts in total as well as the introduction of specialist padel physiotherapy services.
Once complete in Spring 2026, the expanded facility will make True Padel Sunderland the largest dedicated indoor padel club in the North East and one of the largest indoor padel centres in the UK, significantly increasing its capacity to accommodate players and expand its programme of sessions and activities.