LTA shortlisted for ‘Sport Organisation Of The Year’ at 2023 Sports Industry Awards

We are shortlisted for the prestigious award alongside Professional Triathletes Organisation, Liverpool FC, The FA, Rugby League World Cup 2021 and The Football Association of Wales.

The winners will be announced at the annual Sports Industry Awards on Thursday 27 April.

The nomination comes after significant steps have been made on our five-year strategic plan and our vision of ‘tennis opened up’ in 2022.

Tennis participation is on the rise, with the number of adults playing during the year increasing 43% compared to 2021, increasing from 3.3 million to 4.7 million from January through to December. This is the highest total recorded since 2017 and has continued the growth seen in 2018-19 which was interrupted during the pandemic. In addition, more than two million adults play monthly - the highest level recorded since we started tracking this measure seven years ago.

Children’s weekly participation in tennis has also seen positive growth in the past year - thanks to the LTA Youth programme - with over three and a half million children playing tennis with an extra 328,000 children playing tennis in schools.

Last year, we saw fantastic British success in the professional game, with a peak of 12 players inside the world’s top 150 and seven inside the top 100 – the highest figure since 1984. There were Grand Slam titles for Joe Salisbury, Neal Skupski, Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid and Andy Lapthorne, with three players reaching the world No.1 ranking. The Brits won a collective 209 pro titles in 2022 – 25 more than the previous year.

2022 also saw the launch of our She Rallies ambition and the Breaking Down Barriers commitment as part of our overarching strategy to address imbalances in our sport and make tennis truly inclusive for everyone.

We also outlined our LTA Environmental Sustainability plan in June, with a key focus on climate action, greater resource efficiency and driving positive biodiversity impact.

Supporting tennis in the community – last year, we announced our new tennis charity, LTA Tennis Foundation, promising specific funding for the LTA and UK Government’s Parks Project, and supporting the delivery of Tennis in schools by providing £250 of equipment to schools that sign up for LTA Youth.

Sport Industry Group Managing Director, Dylan Pugh said: “It’s been a real pleasure to learn about the work that the sector produced last year, and I’d like to thank everyone who was involved in the selection process for their efforts over the last couple of weeks.

“Of course, huge congratulations must go to all the organisations who have been named on the shortlist today. It was an incredibly tough selection process and to make the shortlist is a significant achievement. I hope to see you all at the Awards in April to celebrate the sector’s finest work.”