Serena Williams might not be particularly happy about the outcome of BetMichgan.com’s ranking of the most tennis-loving states, but it appears that enthusiasm for the sport is somewhat tepid in the tennis legend’s home state.
At least that’s according to data that BetMichigan, the home of the best Michigan sports betting apps reviews, has complied.
Williams was born in Saginaw, but when she was young the family moved to California and then Florida, where she and sister Venus began their path to becoming Grand Slam-winning legends in earnest (Venus was born in California).
Still, it doesn’t appear that passion for tennis is all that widespread in the Wolverine State.
There’s more on that in just a bit.
This Is National Tennis Week in America
Meanwhile, there is some calendar serendipity in that there is an overlap between the world’s most celebrated tennis tournament, Wimbledon, and National Tennis Week in the United States. The weeklong tennis observance in America started June 25 and runs through July 1; Wimbledon’s main draw runs from July 3-16 but qualifying began June 26.
Wimbledon will be one of the most popular tennis wagering events for Michigan sportsbooks.
The occasion of National Tennis Week gives rise to BetMichigan.com determining what states most love tennis.
In 1976, as the sport’s popularity was taking off both for watching and participating, President Gerald Ford recognized the fourth week in June as National Tennis Week.
That year, Sweden’s Bjorn Borg defeated Ilie Nastase to become the Wimbledon men’s singles champion and America’s Chris Evert bested Evonne Goolagong Cawley for the women’s singles title.
Tennis Available at Michigan Sportsbook Apps
With sports wagering more accessible in the United States, tennis has become a popular wagering sport in many jurisdictions. Michigan has both retail and online sports betting, with many of those mobile operators offering Michigan sports betting bonuses.
Through the decades, the acceptance of tennis as an international sport was stamped when the sport was re-introduced to the Olympics in 1988. With pro tennis players now competing in the Olympics, some of the most famous names in the sport, such as Serena and Venus Williams, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have all won gold medals either in singles or doubles competition.
Turning to grassroots tennis, with National Tennis Week being celebrated this week, BetMichigan.com looked at which states are the most interested in – or even love -- the sport of tennis.
Most Tennis-Loving States
Michigan Misses Out on Top 10
BetMichigan.com, where you can learn more about Michigan online gambling, used four combined data points to develop the ranking of the 50 U.S. states in measuring, from most to least, each state’s enthusiasm for tennis.
The data points are Google Trend’s five-year search interest of the term, “Tennis” and Google Trend’s five-year search interest of the term, “Tennis Courts Near Me.” We then awarded five bonus points for states that have a Top 25 city for either players or courts listed on Global Tennis Network.
In our ranking system, Michigan was ranked No. 30 overall in the U.S., in its enthusiasm for tennis.
For searches for “tennis” Michigan earned 20 points. Search interest of “tennis courts near me” yielded 24 points. Michigan received no bonus points for having a city among the Top 25 for either players or courts on Global Tennis Networks.
As a result, Michigan had 44 total points.
Wimbledon odds are up with various operators. Customers using the BetMGM bonus code Michigan can get -155 odds on Novak Djokovic to win his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title and eighth overall. French Open champion Iga Swiatek is the favorite to win the women’s Wimbledon title at BetMGM with +350 odds.
