World Team Tennis Returns with New Format and Ownership

By Erik Gudris | Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Photo credit: World Team Tennis

World Team Tennis is back.

The pioneering mixed-gender team tennis league founded by Billie Jean King and others in 1974 is set to relaunch in December of this year with new ownership and format.

“I couldn’t be more excited about a modernized vision for World Team Tennis,” Billie Jean King said in a statement. “This league has always been about innovation and making tennis more accessible. It’s inspiring to see that spirit carried forward in a way that connects with how fans engage with sports today.”

World Team Tennis, or WTT, featured men and women competing together in various teams across the United States for nearly 50 years. In 2021, pandemic-induced financial challenges forced WTT to suspend operations, according to the Sports Business Journal.

The first event of WTT’s new season will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on December 2. The league, which used to play its matches in the early summer, will now play matches in December at the end of the regular tennis season. 

The new ownership model will allow competing players an equity stake in the league.

The new format will be shorter than before, with four singles sets, two men’s and two women’s, and a mixed doubles Supertiebreaker.

“I think fans are going to have a lot of fun with this,” Jessica Pegula, currently ranked World No. 5, said. “The matches are shorter, the team energy is different, and having players share in the ownership of the league also creates a deeper level of commitment.”

“World Team Tennis has been ahead of its time for 50 years with its values of gender equity and its leadership in innovation,” Stephen Amritraj, Chief Executive Officer of WTT, said. “We’re not simply bringing the league back – we’re building it with intention as an inclusive, differentiated property at the intersection of sport, culture, and entertainment.”

Additional announcements surrounding players, teams, venues, partnerships, and fan experiences will be unveiled in the coming months, leading up to WTT’s league launch in December 2026, according to a WTT press release.