Signa Sports United (SSU) announced a binding agreement to acquire Tennis Express, an online tennis retailer in the United States.
The closing of the acquisition is subject to certain conditions. Together with the acquisition of Midwest Sports that closed in April, SSU and its tennis destination Tennis-Point have now established an online tennis platform in the U.S. The two acquisitions position Tennis-Point for growth and expands the reach of SSU’s platform for its brand partners and digital communities.
SSU noted that tennis has experienced a surge in participation amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the United States Tennis Association (USTA), four million new players in the U.S. picked up a racquet for the first time in 2020, representing a “22 percent increase in participation.”
“We see significant opportunity to replicate our successful European tennis platform strategy in the U.S. market, which is benefitting from a surge in participation yet remains fragmented and under-served from an e-commerce and community engagement perspective,” said Stephan Zoll, CEO of Signa Sports United. “Adding strong players like Tennis Express accelerates our U.S. expansion and opportunity to create value for SSU and the broader U.S. tennis ecosystem.”
“We are glad to see SSU is expanding within the U.S. market so quickly. The scale of their tennis platform capabilities brings significant advantages to the entire ecosystem,” said Hans-Martin Reh, global general manager, racquet sports, Wilson Sporting Goods.
Founded by Brad Blume and his partner, Tennis Express started with a single retail store and has since grown into a specialty retailer serving customers nationwide with “90 percent of its revenue coming from digital channels.” Tennis Express’s 15,000- square-foot experiential flagship superstore and warehouse in Houston, TX includes a full-size indoor tennis court.
“Tennis-Point has a long track record of growing tennis in Europe, which has made it the global No. 1 online tennis destination, and we intend to do the same in the U.S.,” said Sascha Beyer, future chairman and president Tennis-Point, North America. “Brad and his team have long championed grassroots tennis and have built a growing and profitable business around their passion. We look forward to working together to achieve these shared goals.”
Brad Blume, who has agreed to join the executive team of Tennis-Point as president Tennis Express, commented, “We founded Tennis Express with the vision to inspire players and support the tennis communities we serve. I could not be more excited that we will be joining the world-class SSU and Tennis-Point teams to help fuel the realization of that vision. Today is a proud day for the Tennis Express team.”
The ATP and Tennis-Point recently announced a multi-year partnership that sees the global online retail platform become the Official Racket Sports Products Retailer of the ATP Tour until 2025.
Photo courtesy NTA
