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USTA National Campus Awarded Decade of NCAA Championships
by Rhiannon Potkey, 9 December 2024
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The USTA National Campus will become the home of the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships for a 10-year period beginning in 2028.
The NCAA made the announcement on Monday, securing a landmark agreement to have the event held in Orlando through the 2037 spring season. The deal aims to replicate the successful model already in place for the Men’s College World Series and Women’s College World Series, which are held annually each spring in Omaha, Nebraska and Oklahoma City, respectively.
As part of the agreement, the USTA plans to make a number of infrastructure enhancements, including building six new indoor courts (bringing the total number of available indoor courts to 12) with improved viewing areas; permanent shade structures at the Collegiate Center, which contains 12 outdoor competition courts; enhanced player amenities; and improved scoreboard for all competition courts, including live scoring and broadcast integration.
In addition to the infrastructure investments, the USTA has financially committed to work with the NCAA and other college tennis stakeholders to raise the profile of the Championships. The commitment includes both increased on-site fan engagement, along with supplementing existing NCAA broadcast agreements.
“This is a momentous day for the USTA and for college tennis,” Lew Sherr, CEO and Executive Director, USTA, said in a media release. “Supporting college tennis is a growing priority for the USTA as it is not only the aspirational dream of youth tennis players across the country, but is also an increasingly vital part of the elite player development pathway. We are proud to bring this event to Orlando for years to come and are excited to work alongside the NCAA and all of our local partners to elevate this event and give college tennis the platform it so richly deserves.”
The NCAA previously announced that the USTA National Campus was awarded the 2028 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships. That year’s event will mark the start of the 10-year agreement that the Orlando facility will host the final three rounds of the season-ending team championships. The USTA National Campus will also host the individual singles and doubles championships if they move back to the spring after the current fall two-year pilot program is complete in 2025. The site would also be an option for singles and doubles championships if the pilot program to hold those championships in the fall becomes permanent.
"We are excited about this agreement with the USTA and UCF to serve as long-term hosts for the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Tennis Championships," said John Bugner, NCAA director of championships and alliances. "The existing track record of hosting successful NCAA tennis championships, along with the continued improvements to the USTA National Campus were integral to our decision-making process. With this commitment from both the USTA and NCAA, we're looking forward to what can be achieved in growing and enhancing the student-athlete and fan experience over the 10 years of the agreement."
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About Rhiannon Potkey
Rhiannon Potkey is a veteran sportswriter with more than two
decades of experience in journalism. Potkey has covered many
sports at many levels and has a passion for finding great stories.
Potkey has covered the U.S. Open, junior sectional and national
events, college conference championships and Davis Cup matches.
Potkey is currently Content Strategist for Tennis Recruiting. You
can reach Rhiannon by email at
[email protected].