Does Michigan Rank Among Tennis-Loving States in America?

Does Michigan Rank Among Tennis-Loving States in America?
Fact Checked by Jim Tomlin

Serena Williams might not be particularly happy about the outcome of BetMichgan.com’s ranking of the most tennis-loving states, but it appears that enthusiasm for the sport is somewhat tepid in the tennis legend’s home state.

At least that’s according to data that BetMichigan, the home of the best Michigan sports betting apps reviews, has complied.

Williams was born in Saginaw, but when she was young the family moved to California and then Florida, where she and sister Venus began their path to becoming Grand Slam-winning legends in earnest (Venus was born in California).

Still, it doesn’t appear that passion for tennis is all that widespread in the Wolverine State.

There’s more on that in just a bit.

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This Is National Tennis Week in America

Meanwhile, there is some calendar serendipity in that there is an overlap between the world’s most celebrated tennis tournament, Wimbledon, and National Tennis Week in the United States. The weeklong tennis observance in America started June 25 and runs through July 1; Wimbledon’s main draw runs from July 3-16 but qualifying began June 26.

Wimbledon will be one of the most popular tennis wagering events for Michigan sportsbooks.

The occasion of National Tennis Week gives rise to BetMichigan.com determining what states most love tennis. 

In 1976, as the sport’s popularity was taking off both for watching and participating, President Gerald Ford recognized the fourth week in June as National Tennis Week.

That year, Sweden’s Bjorn Borg defeated Ilie Nastase to become the Wimbledon men’s singles champion and America’s Chris Evert bested Evonne Goolagong Cawley for the women’s singles title.

Tennis Available at Michigan Sportsbook Apps

With sports wagering more accessible in the United States, tennis has become a popular wagering sport in many jurisdictions. Michigan has both retail and online sports betting, with many of those mobile operators offering Michigan sports betting bonuses.

Through the decades, the acceptance of tennis as an international sport was stamped when the sport was re-introduced to the Olympics in 1988. With pro tennis players now competing in the Olympics, some of the most famous names in the sport, such as Serena and Venus Williams, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have all won gold medals either in singles or doubles competition.

Turning to grassroots tennis, with National Tennis Week being celebrated this week, BetMichigan.com looked at which states are the most interested in – or even love -- the sport of tennis.

Most Tennis-Loving States

Rank, State Search Interest of "Tennis" Search Interest of "Tennis Courts Near Me" Bonus Points For Top 15 Cities Total
1. Florida 47 5050 147
2. California 44 45 45 134
3. Texas 32 44 45 121
4. Georgia 46 49 10 105
5. New Jersey 49 48 5 102
6. North Carolina 38 43 20 101
7. New York 503410 94
8.Massachusetts41 47 593
9. Connecticut 48 40 0 88
10. Maryland 4541 0 86

Michigan Misses Out on Top 10

BetMichigan.com, where you can learn more about Michigan online gambling, used four combined data points to develop the ranking of the 50 U.S. states in measuring, from most to least, each state’s enthusiasm for tennis.

The data points are Google Trend’s five-year search interest of the term, “Tennis” and Google Trend’s five-year search interest of the term, “Tennis Courts Near Me.” We then awarded five bonus points for states that have a Top 25 city for either players or courts listed on Global Tennis Network.

In our ranking system, Michigan was ranked No. 30 overall in the U.S., in its enthusiasm for tennis.

For searches for “tennis” Michigan earned 20 points.  Search interest of “tennis courts near me” yielded 24 points. Michigan received no bonus points for having a city among the Top 25 for either players or courts on Global Tennis Networks.

As a result, Michigan had 44 total points.

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Author

Bill Ordine

Bill Ordine, senior journalist and columnist for BetMichigan.com, was a reporter and editor in news and sports for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Baltimore Sun for 25 years, and was a lead reporter on a team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News. Bill started reporting on casinos and gaming shortly after Atlantic City’s first gambling halls opened and wrote a syndicated column on travel to casino destinations for 10 years. He covered the World Series of Poker for a decade and his articles on gaming have appeared in many major U.S. newspapers, such as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald and others.

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