World Team Tennis Unveils Team Markets for Relaunched 2026 Season

World Team Tennis, the mixed-gender team tennis league co-founded by Billie Jean King in 1974, has confirmed its team markets for the relaunched 2026 season.

WTT has announced three city-based clubs in Toronto, New York and the Miami metropolitan area ahead of its 47th season. The season will relaunch this December, with what has been described as “a modern vision built for today’s sports and entertainment landscape.”

It had already been public knowledge from May that the 16,000-capacity Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, home to the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, would host the opening night of WTT on December 2. After Opening Night, the league will head to Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario, and Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, later that month.

The upcoming season will feature six events across a home-and-away competition window, with each team playing two home matches and two away matches. The events will be staged in flagship arenas in major markets across North America.

“We’re incredibly excited to bring WTT’s new vision to life in these cities as we begin the league’s next chapter,” said WTT CEO Stephen Amritraj. “Together, these markets are home to some of the world’s largest tennis communities, incredible sports and entertainment venues, and elite player talent.

“We’ve been intentional about listening to tennis fans and revamped WTT’s entire fan experience from the ground up to create a truly unique team product in tennis. From our new format to the in-arena experience, every decision has been driven by one goal: delivering more value to fans to help grow the sport.”

“Tennis Canada is excited to support World Team Tennis’ return and to welcome the event to
Toronto,” said Tennis Canada CEO Gavin Ziv. “Over 1 million new tennis players hit the courts in Canada last year, and that is, in part, because Canadians are inspired to pick up a racquet by watching the world’s best in action on home soil. We look forward to providing tennis fans with a new event to experience, and we expect several Canadian players to take part, meaning they will have a home team to rally behind.”

Match Formats and Schedules

The new WTT match format will feature four singles sets — two men’s and two women’s — and a mixed doubles “Supertiebreaker,” ensuring that each gender player contributes equally to the overall result. In addition, there will be no advantage scoring after deuces.

Jessica Pegula, the current No. 3-ranked player in the WTA, has been confirmed in the player roster, which is expected to predominantly feature top-20 players from the United States.

According to the league, WTT matches will be played outside of the traditional tennis calendar to create a dedicated window that fits players’ schedules, hence the December start date. In the previous iteration of the league, matches would usually be played during the summer months, and both ATP and WTA players would take a break from their tour schedules to participate in World Team Tennis.

Accessibility

‍The WTT is aiming to create a more accessible and fan-focused vision for tennis by introducing live-in-venue entertainment, music and immersive technology (including real-time reality ball tracking and advanced data visualization) in partnership with Hawk-Eye Innovations, a Sony Group Company.

The move for greater accessibility is also being heavily driven by the United States Tennis Association. As part of its “35 by 35” vision, the organization wants to reach 35 million tennis players by 2035 by creating more entry points for both players and fans.

League History

Alongside her five fellow co-founders more than half a century ago, King helped to develop a league format that featured a tennis court comprising four colors and teams made up of at least two men and two women. The inaugural league debuted in 1974 with 16 participating teams before stopping play four years later owing to financial losses and the lack of a major television channel contract.

Now operating under a new ownership model led by private equity firm Intrepid Sports Group, WTT is set to be the first professional sports league to offer joint equity in the league to competing male and female players.

Though the original WTT folded in 1978, several revivals were attempted over the years, with the last WTT season taking place in November 2021 with five teams playing 12 matches each.

After the 2022 season was canceled due to financial challenges exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, organizers hoped to relaunch the league in 2023 with new expansion franchises paying $1 million to participate, but the project could not get off the ground.