Danijal Muminovic was named INTENNSE Challenge Series Athlete of the Year.
E. M. Pio Roda / INTENNSE
As the tennis world focuses attention on the Grand Slam U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, a new professional league in the sport recently celebrated the conclusion of its inaugural season. Showcasing emerging talent and an innovative team-based format, INTENNSE wrapped up its six-week schedule with Team Atlanta taking home the first Bata Trophy on Championship Weekend.
INTENNSE-ly Disruptive
The U.S. sports landscape continues to evolve radically, fueled by fans’ appetite for new, non-traditional and/or reimagined sports entertainment. Pop Stroke, TGL, Upper Deck Golf, Pillow Fighting, Banana Ball and The Grass League are just a few recent examples of professional sports that have successfully captured new audiences and demonstrated sustainability in a crowded marketplace.
INTENNSE is the newest entry into the field, bringing innovative change to professional tennis by reshaping the sport through a “family-first” and “athlete-centered” culture, lightning-fast matches, fan engagement and commitment to player development and welfare.
The league launched in June, just eight months after securing $4 million in funding from Triple B, an international family group “with a mission to empower innovators and entrepreneurs for positive impact.”
Said Thomas A. Bata, Triple B director, “We’re betting on a bold vision that tears down old walls and brings athletes, fans, and the future of sport together like never before—in a venue unlike anything that’s come before.”
Charles Allen, tapped as the venture’s CEO, marveled that the new league was able to launch its first full season so quickly noting, “It’s absolutely extraordinary and I think it’s unprecedented at this scale in this amount of time.”
(L-R) Luke Jensen, INTENNSE broadcaster, and CEO Charles Allen are all smiles after the inaugural season.
INTENNSE
It’s Tennis Turned Up!
This season featured three teams – Atlanta, Jacksonville and Tampa – plus a weekly Challenge Team whose members had to play their way into the competition. Each team was made up of six players – three men and three women. Weekend competitions, known as Surges, consisted of three team-versus-team matches (Duals) of men’s singles, women’s singles, and doubles play, each in three timed “Bolts.” The team with the highest combined score after the final Bolt was crowned the winner.
INTENNSE blends strategy, spectacle, and skill in ways traditional tours cannot. The league emphasizes dynamic scoring, top level competition and crowd interaction, making it as entertaining for fans as it is challenging for players.
The action is high-intensity with each Dual consisting of three, non-stop, 10-minute Bolts, with a maximum of 14 seconds allowed between points. Only two 60-second timeouts may be taken per match.
According Allen, “Traditional tennis is 20% active time, and we’re closer to 80% active time.”
Week Six action Tampa vs Atlanta
INTENNSE
For players, the pace is a major adjustment.
Alejandra Cruz, a senior at Georgia Tech who played for Jacksonville, described the experience as both electrifying and nerve-wracking.
“Having the 14 seconds and just one serve, my heart is always racing. In a regular tennis match, I’m able to control that just by taking my time and breathing and going to my towel. But INTENNSE is the opposite. Everything is going so fast and you have the crowd there and the noise. It’s crazy. Sometimes I feel like I’m going to get sick.”
“But,” she quickly adds, “I like the intensity and the level of adrenaline that I get on the court. I love to experience that.”
Kevin King, a member of season champion Atlanta, believes the faster format actually helps his game.
“You don’t have to think,” he explains. “You just have time to act and to execute and to trust your game, trust what you’re doing and play tennis. So that’s great. And every time I get out there, it’s more and more fun. It’s constant adrenaline. You’re going 100% the whole time it seems. There’s really no time to think, no time to catch your breath. You just start going non-stop and trying to figure it out on the fly.”
07/12/2025 INTENNSE Week 3 Match 1 – Jacksonville vs. Challenge Annabelle Thomas, Sofia Johnson
E. M. Pio Roda / INTENNSE
The accelerated pace comes with unlimited substitutions, making coach and player strategy crucial. There’s pressure on the players to deliver and coaches to make the right decisions at the right time. There’s also pressure on the bench because teammates, like pinch hitters, never know when they may be subbed in.
Cruz explains, “So you have to stay warm. You have to stay engaged with the points. You need to follow the score. It’s like you’re playing, but you’re not playing. So, finding that balance is a challenge, that’s for sure.”
The point-based scoring is much easier to understand than traditional tennis. One point is awarded for a standard point, two points for a clean winner. Only one serve is allowed per point, and the team serves until losing a point. Points accumulate with each match, meaning that even though Bolts may be won, the overall match can be lost due to the total point count.
INTENNSE is diverse and inclusive. The league supports gender equity, with men and women earning the same prize money. This season, that ranged from $4,000 per match, to $12,000 for a league match and $8,000 for a Challenge match. Total purse for the season was approximately $300,000.
Fans attending traditional tennis tournaments are generally expected to follow the required etiquette of silence and decorum. INTENNSE, on the other hand, encourages fans to energetically and vocally support their teams and individual players.
The INTENNSE Arena, a 20,000 square foot indoor, climate-controlled converted movie soundstage, offers the perfect venue for fans to be close to the court and turn up the volume.
06/22/2025 INTENNSE tennis debut ph: E. M. Pio Roda/INTENNSE
E. M. Pio Roda/INTENNSE
Said Allen, “We have a phrase ‘Spectate Like You Mean It.’ We want people to show up and feel like they belong there and that they’re part of the action.”
It’s an aspect that players have embraced wholeheartedly.
King, both a competitor and assistant tennis coach at Georgia Tech, loves the fan engagement, noting that the venue set up with second floor seating cantilevered over the court contributes to the total experience.
“People yell, there’s cowbells, clappers all the time, music going on, and I think that adds a really cool environment to tennis that you really never have seen before.”
Advantage INTENNSE
CEO Charles Allen’s journey to INTENNSE was an unconventional one that somehow makes sense. He has described his life as “a random walk in pursuit of good conversations.” It’s a long walk that has led to success as a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and inventor, off-grid Appalachian Trail permaculturist, and world traveler with 15 years of immersive international living under his belt.
He is also a tennis dad and avid afficionado whose father was still playing tennis in his 90s. That sense of family and continuity inspired him to help create this new tennis ecosystem, one that values family and encourages people to play tennis for life.
Allen’s opinion of organized tennis as it operates today is less than flattering.
“First, you’ve got very poor onboarding of families into the sport. Then you’ve got a toxic professional tour where most players spend years not making a living or even having a quality of life because they’re circling the globe 40-50 weeks a year. They can’t even have a stable home life. It’s a non-stop grind.”
In this league, players can live in one place and have relationships in their community, only having to travel for the championship at the end of the season.
Governance gridlock, structural problems, grueling schedules, financial challenges and isolation all contribute to talented players leaving the game for good. Having experienced the toxic aspects of organized tennis firsthand, Allen believes INTENNSE can be the antidote.
In order to transform the sport, INTENNSE offers a pathway for players to remain in the game, especially in college and/or while pursuing a professional career. All team members – year-round contract players, league players and appearance fee players – are compensated and eligible for prize money that can provide them with desperately needed funds to continue chasing their dream.
Tennis is a uniquely individual sport and the team format of INTENNSE addresses the loneliness experienced by many players.
Kevin King was a member of the championship Atlanta INTENNSE team.
INTENNSE
Said King, “The team environment with that high energy, fast-paced game is really a great combination. You know, you’re out there giving everything you got, and then you’re supporting your teammate as soon as they go in. Tennis players don’t always have a team around them. And it’s nice to be able to have that support and to give that support also.”
Added Cruz, “Our Jacksonville coach always said to us, ‘you guys are three, but you play as one.’ So that’s very, very important.”
A League With a Conscience
The league operates as INTENNSE under the umbrella of For the Sport, that reflects the mission to transform the very culture and structure of tennis. Goals include encouraging fan participation, creating and highlighting local heroes and fostering a sense of belonging that will change the perception of tennis from elite-only to lifelong participation.
Team Atlanta captured the inaugural INTENNSE Championship. Pictured: Dalayna Hewitt, Raul Garcia, Trent Bryde, Coach Marcelo Ferreira, Kevin King, Michaela Gordon, Tanya Sasnouskaya
INTENNSE
By all accounts, Season One was a resounding success.
“Our inaugural season was absolutely spectacular; the joy experienced by the athletes, their families, the fans was palpable,” said Allen. “Our team is in disbelief with what was achieved. It’s like we set out to do a Triple Lindy and ended up with a Quadruple. Planning for the second season expansion is underway, and we couldn’t be more excited.”
King echoed the sentiments of his fellow players in praising the new league.
“I think they’re doing an incredible job as an organization, so I’m excited to be a part of it. Charles has done a great job. I trust his vision. I feel like every couple of weeks when I get the chance to talk to him, there’s something new, something innovative he’s talking about. So I think he’s, he’s done a great job and I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
The league recently announced Barry Fulcher as its first League Commissioner, who will lead the league expansion to 10 teams in two hubs next season. INTENNSE will also hold a college player draft for the first time, and build on revenue streams that include interactive streaming, sponsorship, gamification and data sales.
Forget about strawberries and cream. Instead, try the INTENNSE offering of courtside fun and excitement.
The inaugural Bata Trophy was won by Team Atlanta
INTENNSE
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/candaceoehler/2025/08/27/professional-tennis-becomes-intennse-as-new-league-thrives/