Colleges continue cutting tennis programs to fund other sports and athlete payments
Several Division I colleges, including Arkansas and Illinois State, have recently announced the elimination of their tennis programs amid shifting financial priorities in college athletics. The cuts are driven by the need to fund direct athlete payments in high-revenue sports like football and basketball. These decisions have raised concerns within the tennis community about the sport's declining participation and sustainability at the collegiate level.
- ▪Arkansas announced it would drop both its men's and women's tennis programs, surprising many in the college tennis community.
- ▪Illinois State and North Dakota also announced the elimination of their men's tennis programs, with North Dakota cutting both men's and women's teams.
- ▪Since the start of revenue sharing with athletes, schools have redirected resources to fund direct payments in sports like football and basketball.
- ▪Youth tennis participation in the U.S. has declined by over 20% among teens over the past two decades.
- ▪In 2022, 64% of first-year male and 61% of first-year female college tennis players were international students.
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