Tennis Growth Skyrockets 43 Percent!

According to Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) 2009 Sports and
Fitness Participation Report

HILTON HEAD, S.C., March 19 /PRNewswire/ -- According to data just released by
the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA), Tennis is the fastest
growing sport in America among individual traditional sports with an increase
in participation of 43% from 2000 to 2008. According to the SGMA, tennis was
one of only six sports to experience participation growth exceeding 40% from
2000 through 2008. Tennis is well ahead of other traditional sports like
baseball, ice hockey, gymnastics and football, all of which suffered a decline
in participation during the past eight years. In the last year alone (through
December 31, 2008), Tennis experienced a 9.6% growth in participation.

The SGMA study is the latest in a series of reports and studies that have
cited the extraordinary growth for tennis. In December, the Taylor Research
Group (TRG) reported that tennis participation reached a record high of 27
million players in 2008, more than any other period in the past 15 years.
Sales of tennis racquets and balls have both also increased significantly,
most notably, an 88% increase in the sale of youth racquets from 2003 through
2008, according to the TRG report.

"The SGMA study is a clear validation of all the hard work and commitment that
our industry has put into the sport," said Jon Muir, president of the Tennis
Industry Association (TIA), and General Manager of Wilson Racquet Sports.
"We've focused not only on reinforcing our already strong base, but at the
same time, we've developed new, innovative programs to bring players, of all
ages and skill levels, into the game."

"From programs like QuickStart Tennis that makes it easy for young players to
get into the sport and begin a developmental pathway; to high school and
college programs like USTA's No-Cut and Tennis on Campus, which keeps them in
the game; to the innovative and fitness based Cardio Tennis, which combines
tennis with a healthy and fun work-out curriculum, the tennis industry is at
the forefront of engaging and retaining players," Muir added. "The TIA has
also established more than 2600 Tennis Welcome Centers across the country, and
provides an online GrowingTennis System that lets consumers find places to
play, partners with comparable skill level and other programs that all serve
to enhance their overall tennis experience."

The TIA, USTA and many other industry partners have been united since 1993 in
a joint effort to support "Grow The Game" activities, a strategy to increase
tennis participation on several levels.

Tennis Participation vs. Economy
"We are especially pleased that interest in tennis has been able to withstand
this soft economy," added Jolyn de Boer, Executive Director, TIA. "We've
charted the various economic indicators against industry shipments and
participation numbers from 2003. We've clearly seen that tennis has
experienced a level of growth unmatched among other major sports and
participation doesn't seem as impacted by a down economy."

In addition to the rise in tennis participation, charting industry shipments
over this same five year period showed shipments of adult racquets are up 30%,
while shipments for youth racquets increased a remarkable 88% from 2003 thru
2008. Furthermore, tennis ball shipments for the same time period were up
over 16%, continuing to demonstrate an increasing attraction to the sport.
Muir adds: "While no industry can escape the current impact of the nation's
economic challenges, we will use the current report provided by the SGMA study
and our own TIA/USTA Participation research to focus on creating even more
players and consumers for our sport."

About the TIA
The Tennis Industry Association, the not-for-profit trade association for
tennis, is THE unifying force in the tennis industry bringing together
competitive companies to work collectively to promote and grow the sport. The
TIA works closely with the USTA and industry partners to develop and implement
initiatives to increase tennis participation. Core TIA activities include
Participation Research, Consumer and Trade Research and the Growing Tennis
System. For more information, please visit TennisIndustry.org or
GrowingTennis.com.

About the USTA
The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S.
and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level
-- from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. It
owns and operates the US Open, the highest attended annual sporting event in
the world, and launched the Olympus US Open Series linking 10 summer
tournaments to the US Open. A not-for-profit organization with more than
725,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. In
addition, it owns the 94 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S., and selects
the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games.

About the SGMA
SGMA, the trade association of leading industry sports and fitness brands,
enhances industry vitality and fosters sports and fitness participation
through research, thought leadership, product promotion and public policy.
SGMA produces the industry leading National Health-through-Fitness Day on
Capitol Hill as well as representing the industry on trade and consumer
issues. More information about SGMA membership and SGMA's Sports Research
Partnership can be found at www.sgma.com.

Current Tennis Industry Initiatives:

Tennis Welcome Centers: These public and private tennis facilities have led
the charge in growing the sport by welcoming new players to the game the right
way - through instruction. The facilities provide well-rounded programs to
new and current players of all ages and abilities. On average, each Tennis
Welcome Center, reports 39 new players, retains 34 players and 82 percent of
the centers reported increased revenue from lessons. Visit
http://www.tenniswelcomecenter.com/ for more information.

Cardio Tennis: This program brings new players to tennis by demonstrating the
exercise and fitness benefits of the sport. Cardio Tennis is a fun way to get
in shape and lose weight, even for someone who has never played tennis. In
just 4 years, Cardio Tennis is now offered in over 1,700 facilities
nationwide. Find more information about Cardio Tennis at:
www.cardiotennis.com.

QuickStart Tennis for kids: This program is a great way to integrate children
- primarily 10 years old and younger - into tennis by using a progressive
format to teach basic skills on shorter courts, using smaller racquets, low
pressure balls, and modified scoring. This method will train the next
generation of tennis players as the QuickStart format is now being used in
almost 1,000 locations across the country! For more information please visit:
http://consumers.quickstarttennis.com/.

Tennis On Campus: Developed by the USTA to promote and support the expansion
of recreational tennis on college campuses. Either through intramural
tournaments and leagues or in a more structured sport club environment, teams
compete interscholastically. Tennis On Campus focuses on providing
opportunities for the entire campus community, and is currently run on more
than 500 campuses across the country, providing organized play for 30,000
participants. For more information about Tennis On Campus please visit:
http://www.tennisoncampus.com/.

No-Cut: This program was introduced to encourage and recognize high school
coaches who make a commitment to their schools by not cutting any student who
tries out for the team. Since its inception, the USTA's No-Cut program has
been embraced by coaches across the country, nearly doubling each year since
its inception. With almost 1,800 coaches now implementing a no-cut
philosophy, thousands of students who may have otherwise dropped the sport are
now part of a team and competing for their school. Find more information
about the No-Cut program at: http://www.usta.com/Coaches/HighSchool.aspx.

GrowingTennis System / Online Enrollment: The national TIA database has more
than 20,000 facility listings and contacts that can post their programs and
events online at GrowingTennis.com. Every month, more than 2.4 million
consumer queries are made to these informational postcards on consumer sites
including usta.com, tennischannel.com, tennis.com, tenniswelcomecenter.com,
cardiotennis.com, quickstart.com and others. Visitors and players can also
automatically register for programs, events or reserve court time online,
saving time and money. For more information please visit:
www.growingtennis.com/.

SOURCE Tennis Industry Association

Greg Sherry, gsherry@sherryllc.com, or Kyle Kuhnel, kkuhnel@sherryllc.com, or
Melissa Hoistion, mhoistion@sherryllc.com, all of SK Communications,
+1-973-267-5605