The U.S. Open has long been one of the most important tennis events in the world.
But in recent years, it has also become a must-attend gathering for anyone working in sports technology.
Now in its third consecutive edition, the USTA Connect conference brought together more than 120 attendees on Thursday evening during the 2026 tournament — and this time around, the conversations went to a whole new level. 🎾
The crowd was a pretty interesting mix: early-stage startups, technology vendors focused on racquet sports, venture capital funds, and companies already part of the portfolio at the USTA‘s own investment arm, USTA Ventures.
In the past year alone, that investment arm acquired stakes in two standout companies: Rec and Fastbreak AI. In other words, this is not just talk — real money is flowing into the ecosystem. 💰
It was not just a networking night with appetizers and business cards.
In practice, it was a mini innovation ecosystem operating inside one of the most-watched Grand Slam tournaments on the planet. 🌎
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What is USTA Connect and why it matters
The USTA, which stands for United States Tennis Association, is the organization behind the U.S. Open and one that has been paying a lot more attention to the role of technology in the sport over the past few years. But there is an important distinction worth making: USTA Connect is not just an event. It is actually the name of a data-sharing program operated by the USTA itself.
The program works in two ways. It can connect tennis-focused technology companies directly with the USTA, giving them access to data that can improve and enrich their products. Or it can connect those companies with each other, creating opportunities for collaboration and partnerships. It all depends on what each company needs. It is a flexible and smart model that puts information sharing at the center of the sector’s growth.
Michael Hughes, senior director of digital strategy and business development at the USTA, explained this logic well. According to him, both the program and the event tied to it were designed to grow the tennis industry through organic integrations, partnerships, and investments. The core idea is to take advantage of a moment when virtually the entire market is gathered in one place.
Everyone converges on New York during the U.S. Open, Hughes said. This is the easiest place to get all the people who should be talking to each other into the same room. He added that he sees the event evolving and getting bigger with each edition.
When you put startup founders side by side with venture capital fund managers inside the context of one of the biggest tournaments in the world, the conversation shifts. Opportunities become more concrete, projects gain qualified visibility, and the ecosystem as a whole comes out stronger. 🚀
The innovation challenge that stole the show
One of the big highlights of this edition was the announcement of the winner of the first startup pitch competition hosted by the USTA, called the USTA Connect Innovation Challenge. The competition was part of the conference and also fits within that broader strategy for growing the sector.
The numbers are impressive. The competition attracted around 125 applicants, who went through a rigorous selection process until only three finalists remained ahead of the 2026 U.S. Open. Each company brought a very different and creative proposal to solve real problems in the tennis world.
Here are the three finalists:
- Tennis Oasis: a mapping software, still in prototype stage, that identifies so-called tennis deserts — regions with little or no infrastructure for playing the sport — and makes strategic recommendations about where it makes sense to invest.
- Third Court: a platform that uses a custom-built artificial intelligence engine to help tennis facilities organize open play sessions. In this format, players drop in and out of courts without needing to book a time slot or hold a club membership, all grouped by skill level.
- HapticNav: a navigation app that already has half a million users and uses vibrational feedback, combined with an optional haptic wristband, to help people who are blind or have low vision navigate public spaces. And the best part: there is a potential application for this technology within tennis tournaments themselves.
The big winner was Third Court, which took home first place and a prize check worth $10,000. An amount that, for an early-stage startup, can make a real difference in development runway. 🏆
But the other two finalists came out winners too. Tennis Oasis will work on pilot projects with the USTA Mid-Atlantic section, while HapticNav will develop pilots directly with the U.S. Open. So even without taking the top prize, both companies walked away with concrete and incredibly valuable partnerships for the future.
Startups and technology at the heart of tennis
Talking about technology in tennis might sound like a very niche topic, but the numbers tell a different story. The global sports technology market has been growing steadily, and tennis — being a sport with an extremely loyal and global fan base — represents a pretty attractive slice for anyone developing solutions around performance, fan engagement, data analytics, and user experience.
The startups that participated in USTA Connect were working across a wide range of areas, from performance analysis tools to club management platforms and apps that improve the experience of watching the tournament, whether from the stands at the U.S. Open or at home on a phone. And the case of Third Court shows how artificial intelligence is already being applied in practical and creative ways to solve real pain points for clubs and players.
The interest from investment funds at the event is no coincidence. Sports as a business category has gone through a massive transformation over the past decade, and tennis has benefited a lot from that shift. The rise in sports content consumption on digital platforms, the growing popularity of wearables and monitoring devices, and the expansion of personalized training apps have all created a very favorable environment for startups focused on this sector to gain traction faster.
Another point worth noting is the role that events like USTA Connect play in accelerating the maturity cycle of startups. When an early-stage company gets to present its solution to qualified investors within a context as relevant as the U.S. Open, it gains much more than a potential funding round. It gains market credibility, visibility with potential customers, access to a network of mentors and partners, and often feedback that saves months of development time.
What changes when the USTA steps in as an investor
Having the USTA as an active investor through USTA Ventures is no small advantage. Sports organizations with that level of reach and authority function as a kind of seal of approval for the companies they back. When a startup announces that the organization behind the U.S. Open is among its stakeholders, it signals to the market that the product or service has gone through a pretty rigorous level of validation.
The recent investments in companies like Rec, a recreational sports platform, and Fastbreak AI show that the USTA is truly putting money behind its vision for the future. This is not just stage talk. It is capital being directed toward companies the organization believes will shape the next chapter of the sport.
Beyond the symbolic aspect, direct investment opens practical and very concrete doors. Portfolio companies gain privileged access to data, infrastructure, and the organization’s user and partner base. That could mean, for example, a performance analytics startup getting access to real match data to train its models, or a fan engagement platform getting to pilot its solution directly with the tournament audience.
For the sports technology ecosystem as a whole, the model the USTA is building with USTA Connect is an interesting example of how traditional sports organizations can reinvent themselves and create value beyond the courts. Instead of just consuming technology, the organization has become an active part of the chain that creates that technology. At its core, that is what turns a tournament into a platform. 🎯
What to expect going forward
With three successful editions under its belt, USTA Connect seems to have found a model that works and is poised to grow. Michael Hughes‘s own words reinforce this when he says he sees the event evolving and getting bigger. Each year, the event attracts more qualified participants, conversations go deeper, and the number of connections that turn into actual business deals increases.
The growing interest in technology applied to sports should also fuel similar initiatives at other sports organizations around the world. The model the USTA is using — combining the visibility of a major event with a structured program connecting startups and investment — is replicable and highly efficient. It would not be surprising to see other sports federations drawing inspiration from this format to create their own innovation ecosystems in the coming years.
What is clear after this third edition of USTA Connect is that tennis is no longer just playing matches. It is also playing a central role in the conversation about the future of technology in sports. And the U.S. Open, which was already synonymous with excellence on the court, now carries that same meaning off it. For startups looking for investment and visibility in the sports sector, being part of this conversation can make all the difference. 🏆
