World Team Tennis: America's Failed Attempt to Popularize Tennis
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Multi-colored courts, record breaking salaries, world class talent, and... empty stands.
World Team Tennis is the world's most sensational tennis competition that no one seems to care about. Made specifically with an American audience in mind, WTT is a co-ed tennis league that pits franchises from across the country against each other in exuberant crowd environments, turning tennis into something more akin to America's most popular sports like baseball and basketball. Despite featuring world's best tennis talent, WTT has consistently faced frequent financial collapses and languished in relative obscurity ever since its founding.
How did WTT tennis begin, and why has it failed at becoming the industry game changer it set out to be?
CULT TENNIS brings you player profiles and analyzes some of the best stories in the world of Tennis! Subscribe to see more content like this, and thank you for stopping by!
Video co-written by Vikram Nijhawan
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Babe wake up Cult Tennis uploaded
Shush
This happens in my sport, MMA, every couple years. People need to quit trying to turn an individual sport into a team sport.
Americans*
They do.
How is MMA your sport. You actually fight competitively in a ring?
@@JK-vc7ie I wrestled and boxed amateur from kindergarten through college and went 5-2-1 between 22-25 years old, before failing to get on The Ultimate Fighter and then moved on to other ventures. Still train and watch every event though.
@@NotKimiRaikkonen legit!
The Taylor Townsend game was crazy back then. It is even more crazy to watch it again
Storytelling and editing at it's finest. Best tennis channel on KZhead
"World's best tennis talent" *shows Donald Young*
you do realize how good you have to be to be even top 200? like worldwide. nevermind
Ah yes, my favorite yearly uploads
facts
I'm not surprised. They look like they take a ton of work.
@@NotKimiRaikkonen yeah but not almost 3 months
@@anonamenoname986 he doesn’t do this full time obviously, he probably has a job and does this for fun.
You’re acting a bit entitled mate. The videos are brilliant and he clearly spends a lot of time on them. As someone else said he’s probably working as well. Just appreciate that he uploads them at all.
I always respect the amount of homework you do for these videos--very entertaining!
Man that court is real funky
You should upload more often your videos are always 10/10
He is quality over quantity. It is hard to keep up quality when you upload more.
NO CAP
I'm honestly more content with the occasional videos. He does such a great job
I was just thinking about you yesterday. “Man, it’s really been awhile since I watched a video from Cult Tennis. Did I actually subscribe, or just intend to?” Lo and behold today, I’m graced with another very interesting and informative video from you.
Audience at the Houston Astrodome was 30,000, not 300,000. Good video anyway!
Company I work for used to provide the scoring and graphics for WTT. Crowd was actually pretty in to it in 2019, then covid hit and it all went downhill from there. The last year in 2021 it was at Indian Wells, a huge tennis venue, and the place was sadly barren. WTT went under again after that
Honestly i'm just glad it existed, because being a ball kid for New York Empire was really amazing
World team tennis? And it's exclusively American. Classic.
thank you for acknowledging the one true 🐐, Donald Young
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Boise, Idaho used to have a team in the 90- early 2000s we had Andy Roddick and the Bryan Brothers on the same team. Pretty epic. At the end of the matches Dwayne Bryan (dad) and the brothers would put on a rock concert. Our venue was crap though, I was a ball kid and the players would always complain about lack of fans and the court. It was a blue mat placed on an ice hockey area surface.
Lmao I love the New York Sets and the dedication to the NY/NJ rhyme scheme.
OMG finally an upload!!!!
WTT starts from the idea that Tennis is flawed and needs improvement. It doesn't, and the WTT makes "improvements" that actually make the game worse.
I don't understand how your so small every video you have is so easy to watch that even someone who doesn't like tennis could easily enjoy it
Amazing content is always posted but there needs to be more videos more often
I only ever heard about it because of the Elton John song, Philadelphia Freedom.
This also happened in cricket at around the same time and although the rebel tournament folded, it was so successful that they literally invented a whole new format of the game just to bring the players back.
Would love to see an in depth look into the opening of balls a week ahead of Wimbledon. Or was that just a rumor?
Welcome back!
Wow I’ve never heard of WTT! And I’m a big tennis fan
I got a chance to see Pete Sampras via WTT and others. I've played and competed in this format as well. Hope it comes back soon enough!
good video
Babe wake up a new Cult Tennis video just dropped
In few years, there will be a story about the rise of Pickleball, the impact to tennis, the competing tours and tennis players and celebrity owners.
And hopefully it’s utter flop.
No because pickleball is really gay.
Pickleball is fun to play, but not to watch, therefore it will never impact tennis tours.
Around here the phenomenon is with beach tennis! Why!!
Where did you get that Indiana Loves footage?
What happened this year with the Hopman Cup ending two years ago, the ATP Cup last year and this year's United Cup...which looks like the Hopman Cup?
ikr its hella confusing. i think its just rebrandings of the same tournaments
They stayed under the radar so as not to get negative press, but the ATP Cup was viewed as sexist and exclusivist. Originally they planned on waiting till 2024 to unveil the new United Cup event (which replaced ATP Cup), but Craig Tiley and Tennis Australia decided instead to move forward with only 2-3 weeks of planning. United Cup was a TREMENDOUS success with record-breaking sales and attendance and viewership. I thought it was quite fun to watch. Only Nadal complained, because he lost both his matches and refused to play the mixed because he lacks humility and refused to play for the fans who paid to come see him play mixed doubles. I don't get how he gets away with it, he's such a nasty complainer, if he doesn't get his way, he threatens to boycott or quit (just like Madrid 2012, his comments about changing the year-end finals to clay, since he has never won it, etc. etc.)
@@bryanmartin5901 " I don't get how he" - you should realize that you hate him, then you will get it 🙂
there is premier tennis league now in India, they are trying to take a more organic approach for tennis league. Hoping that works.
You could also make a video on the international tennis premier league and it's downfall
Can you please make a video on the big 3 or Nadal's aus open win in 2022
That Townsend match is the funniest thing I have seen in a while
I hate how my uni team plays this format instead of 6 singles and 6 doubles. So match day is always 1 men’s singles 1 women’s singles mixed doubles and men’s and women’s doubles
11:02 LOLLLLLL
I consider myself a tennis fan and had no idea about this😂
LIV golf vibes
USA, what a weird place
Hey now…pickleball is the fastest growing sport here for years now, so…well…I mean…oh shit, you win 🫣
coincidentally this sounds a lot like what LIV golf is trying to pull off in the golfing world...
The information about The Weeknd is wrong
it’s really funny how often Americans come in to sports and try and ‘fix’ them but instead just walk all over why people already play and watch them, in the modern era I’d say F1 is probably the only exception, but that’s because they focused on marketing the sport that already existed first, before making big changes.
I find fascinating the MLS thing... How americans try very hard to not understand a simple and universal sport like football (the real one)
Rowdy, alcohol-infused, low intelligence, physical, cheap. These 5 traits of American sports love are why tennis as a whole won't ever reach the heights of other major sports in America. It's stupid, but so are a vast majority of sports fans in this country.
@@marcoaurelio4903 Most get it, but have short attention spans and want to be wowed every few minutes with something physically insane or with scores. This is why basketball and football fit the bill. Making the average American think is something they don't want to have to do,
I was reading on Chris Evert's wikipage that she bypassed the French Open a number of times to play this rubbish. Add that & the fact she didn't play the Australian Open much she could of possibly won 25 slams & be considered the GOAT.
I guess the 1.2 million dollars was too hard to decline. No point in complaining about it now. It's fair to say she possibly missed out on 3 more French Opens but she would have found Australia (then played on fast grass) a much tougher prospect.
I am fairly new to tennis fandom but if boggles my mind how a 29 year old female beating a 55 year old male in an exhibition match proves anything 😮
Hawkeye came from the sport cricket which was already doing video review for decades. IT did not inspire hawkeye
There’s a new version of this called premier league I forgot the exact name
I'd love to watch your ITPL story but unfortunately when you advertise something people are interested in, then slap them with a paywall, they wont view it out of principle. Maybe dont advertise in a manner that drives customers away?
Tennis is not even top 3 in the world today…. number 4 max, something like this in top sports statistics
pretty sure he said number one solo sport.
A few years before, Riggs did the same thing and smoked a lady I forget who
This is a joke right, tennis is already one of the most popular sports? World Team Tennis may not have been successful, but Davis Cup is and has been for decades.
The most american thing about World Team Tennis is the "World" in the name but it's a US league.
YHonestly no one cares about any of this kind of cups for tennis we just prefer slams and 1000 and 500 point events
Women never have, nor ever will, compete with men in tennis on an equal footing. Riggs was nearly TWICE the age of King, who was playing in the PRIME of her career. Some even say Riggs threw the match to cover his own bets against himself. Every other "contest" between male and female tennis players were decided victories for the men.
Let’s goo
Hi Billy Ocean
It's strange to me that the takeaway from a 29 year old Billie Jean King in her prime defeating a 55 year old Bobby Riggs who had been retired for more than a decade is supposed to be that women can compete equally with men
That wasnt the takeaway, the entire world stopped to watch that match. Both players were brought into the stadium in royal chairs. My dad even in india knew abt this match wer tennis isnt even popular. Attention is money, they wanted to milk men vs women or controversies.
@@jessg101 2:56 in the video, "Billy Jean had just shown that female tennis players could be just as good as, if not better than, a man on the opposite side of the court"
Exactly, should Joker play an old lady?
As it turns out, if you are a better tennis player you will win.
@Luke Kuang who on average is better? Men or women? Who with the same rank is better? A female player or a male player?
WTT was better off dead and buried. its concept was too USAmerican and did not arouse international interest. the men's and women's tours as they stand now, with the ATP and the WTA collaborating, are much better without WTT or any other tennis platform. besides, it smacked of self-interest on the part of BJK and her husband!!!
The classic American move of using "world" even though it's only in America
As for the popularity of tennis, its appeal has always been in the grace and beauty of the game; its sense of style, class and sophistication and its timeless elegance. The infusion of silly gimmicks, rock n roll music and an inane scoring system as a means to appeal to the masses, has, thankfully, failed.
For years this came off as Billie Jean's pet project with stars supporting it as a favor to her.
She should pay the price of publicly being shamed for her role in this debacle. When she dies, the WTT should be the first 20 grafs of the story and then and only then should the obit praise her many accomplishments.
Your audio mix is too loud, bring it down a few db it’s competing with your voice
WE already have Davis Cup and Laver Cup that promote tennis as a team sport. If it needs to be done, do it with dignity and respect for tennis not just fanfare
Great video. Video idea: do a analysis/video on why and how did Djokovic managed to return to Australia and win the Australian open, even after he was supposedly banned for 3 years last year from the government. (Discuss PM Albanese and his decisions as to why he decided to allow him to come to Australia, his controversies/criticisms regarding to spending too much time at the Australian open rather then helping out alien springs) Like if you agree
I’d love to hear your thoughts on pickleballs growth because major league pickle ball is similar
I agree with another poster that a twenty-nine-year-old woman in her prime, playing a fifty-five-year-old who had been retired for 20 years, was not a legitimate way to gauge women and men's sports. The word even back then was Riggs threw the match for a bigger payday. He had already beaten Margaret Court who is considered the greatest female tennis player ever. People are so stupid. A twenty-nine-year-old against a fifty-five-year-old, would be the equivalent of a twenty-nine-year-old against a nine-year-old. If that match was a true indicator of competition between men and women, why is there a ATP and WTA on the senior level the Challenger level and even the ITF keep the sexes separate. Dude you have a lot of knowledge about tennis tournaments excetera, but you do not understand the game itself. By the way, tennis in America is the highest when there are American male major champions. American female champions basically inspire American females. There hasn't been an American male major champion since Andy roddick in 2003. Although Serena, Venus, Sloane Stephens Sofia kenin and a few more American women have won majors, their victories have not moved the needle much when it comes to popularizing tennis in general here in America. Putting aside all of the politically correct emotional crap, this is a fact.
🧐🧐
First comment!
Classic American move to create a "world" series exclusively in the US
No one wants Nebula
First
About time … ???
This has vibes of Blizzard turning forcing Overwatch into a City Franchise base league, with similar outcomes.
How the hell did Blizzard not think about the travel cost(international btw) for the teams? Esports team doesn't make profits except for few, so they barely have money to pay staff and players, also wasting time traveling causing exhaustion instead of training and the biggest problem for city franchise is player transfer. I'm haven't watch Overwatch league but I know that teams rosters always change after a season, 1 main player leave = 16% of the team unlike football, American football or basketball but usually more than 1 player would be replaced and fans coming back just to see a weird squad that doesn't have the familiarity that the the city franchise team normally have which made the fans not attracted as before and bye bye revenue. I won't mention the meta problem because every game has different problems.
Why was mattek sands used as the clickbait🥲🥲
Why am I not surprised that someone tried to Amercanize this sport.
Only America lol
Americans thinking their experiences and tastes are universal, part infinity
This was marketed towards Americans only
29 vs 55 now that sounds fair. What bs
Glad this failed. The Americans took everything that makes tennis classy and graceful and turned it into an absolute mockery, as per usual.
"classy and graceful" tennis people take themselves so seriously it's hilarious
One has to wonder if ATP tennis would even be in good financial footing today if Fed didn't resurrect the sport. The entire sport was dying even then. Tennis is not a great spectators sport unless there are interesting talented players that have magic in their game. Right now, with Fed retired, what do you really have? Not much. There's not one player that I have to watch their every match. It's just not there. I might catch some youtube highlights sometimes but I just don't need to watch boring mechanized tennis over and over. And that's what you have now. Maybe in 10 years, you would do a video on the demise of the ATP.
Fed? I think Serena brought much more new viewership to all of tennis, not just women's. Fed has universal appeal, sure, but millions upon millions who would've never bothered watching or playing tennis started playing and watching obsessively because of Venus and Serena. Because their story was unrivaled.
Fed done well to make tennis exciting and got me into tennis for that reason. Now there are some interesting personalities and talents like Rublev, Zverev, Fritz, Ali Asim and even Kyrios who make tennis exciting and fun to watch for all ages. Women's tennis is as open as ever which makes it so exciting to watch.
tennis is not popular, its *major* events get a 1% share of sports viewership, compared to 30% for events like the Superbowl. That anyone thought WTT would succeed by turning tennis into a silly circus beggars belief. most people will never watch tennis, and most tennis fans will never care about Davis Cup, WTT, or the Olympics...and thank god for that. It is an individual sport, not an exercise in nationalist or group loyalties. The one partial exception is Laver Cup, which basically is a fun exhibition of individual matches with superficial "team" element. Cool video, thanks.
No one wants to see tennis players goofing around and being careless (which is what happens during the WTT matches). No ❤️ in these matches 👎
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Wait so folks didn't want to watch washed up pros and pro dropouts play tennis in a dumb goofy format where they throw tentacles for challenges....shocking.
Get lost
Silly and absurd Americans sport rules and formats lmao
Only disliked for hearing nebula at the end... co-owned, aha, sure. I don't hear MKBHD talking about it anymore, must've thought it wasn't worth the time... You should do a video on Nebula's Rise and Fall.... :)))))
Your history of this is superficial. If you actually play tennis you would understand it.