Show Notes
INTENNSE Tennis: Inside the League with Marcelo Ferreira and Oliver Bell
In this interview, I sit down with two leaders behind INTENNSE, the fast-growing professional tennis league redefining how the sport is played and watched.
Marcelo Ferreira is the Head Coach of Team Atlanta and the Director of the High-Performance Tennis Academy at Windy Hill Athletic Club.
Oliver Bell is the Chief Financial Officer of INTENNSE, overseeing the league's finance, legal, HR and operations.
What is INTENNSE?
INTENNSE is a co-ed, team-based pro tennis league built for speed. Matches are played in 10-minute "BOLTs" with a running clock, simple point-based scoring, and live substitutions. A full team matchup (an "ARC") combines men's, women's and mixed singles and doubles.
In this interview, we cover:
• How INTENNSE started and the vision behind it
• Where the league stands today
• The direction it's heading and what's next
• Why Atlanta's tennis community made it the ideal home for the league
• How the player draft works
• How the game is played, including the format and rules
Chapters
The Problem with Professional Tennis
How Intense Tennis Started
The Fast-Paced Match Format
Expanding Beyond Atlanta
The Business of a 90-Minute Match
Vetting Players for Personality
Player Salaries and Contracts
Building a Grassroots Movement
The Revenue Model and Sponsors
Equal Pay Across Genders
Choosing New Cities for Expansion
Recruiting and NCAA Rules
The Role of Pulse Partners
What Could Kill the League?
What Winning Means to Us
Chapters15
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