‘Marketing Problem’: Arizona State Men’s Tennis Head Coach Explains Why NCAA College Tennis Is Suffering

Professional tennis, both on the ATP and WTA Tours, is engaging and widely beloved. However, the pathway for young stars to make it to the big stage is extremely challenging and does not get the recognition or spotlight that it deserves. Recently, the head coach of Arizona State Men’s tennis, Matt Hill, explained why NCAA college tennis is suffering.

According to Hill, it’s both a marketing and priority problem. The issue is that no one wants to promote tennis at the college level.

Matt Hill details the problems college tennis is facing

Hill has been the head coach at the Arizona State University since 2016 and immediately started delivering amazing results for the team. He’s also a 3-time AAC Coach of the year. In a recent podcast appearance, he discussed the issues that currently plague NCAA college tennis.

He said, “It’s a marketing problem. It’s not a marketing problem, it’s a priority problem. The product is good, the product is not gonna sell itself. If you think that when you are top 10 in the country, everybody is gonna come to your matches. That’s not how it works. “

Elaborating about the problem, he stated, “Ultimately it falls on the shoulder of head coach of the program and so when I say it’s a priority problem, most head coaches don’t see that as your job or maybe don’t want that to be your job.”

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What are the solutions?

Matt Hill suggested a few solutions to the problems faced. He emphasized that all head coaches need to take ownership of the issue, and if the sport doesn’t have eyeballs, it’s going to be damaging for everyone, in the long-term. Thus, it’s crucial to promote college tennis and make people excited about the product on offer.

He also stated that “we need to be a revenue-generating sport,” and for that, it’s necessary to build a proper relationship with the fan base.

What is your opinion about the problems with college tennis?

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