Tennis is one of the most popular spectator sports in the world. An estimated one billion people are fans of watching tennis, which places the sport in fourth position in terms of global popularity, behind only soccer, cricket and field hockey. In the US, the most popular sports are football, baseball and basketball, yet there are also around 17.9 million who enjoy playing tennis.
With such a huge fan base, it comes as no surprise that many online casino game machine developers have chosen to incorporate tennis themes into the software in an effort to draw people towards that particular game. Sports themes have always been a strong choice, as people who enjoy the competitive nature of sporting events are often also drawn to the challenges of online gaming.
Tennis has been featured as a sport on the Nintendo Wii, incorporated into a Mario fighting game and even made available as a touch-screen game for mobile. There are also several high-profile online slots games featuring tennis as a theme, with online casinos wanting to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.
Tennis Champion
Tennis champion is a slots game released in 2017 by Spinomenal, available on desktop, tablet and mobile. The game features plenty of tennis themed symbols to keep avid fans spinning, with reels full of tennis rackets, tennis balls, sports bottles and tennis players. All the symbols and images are related to the game of tennis and its players. There are wild cards, represented by the female tennis player, and free spins when the male tennis player appears and launches the scatter feature.
The tennis ball symbols offer the highest payout, followed by the trophy symbols. The game also features a Winnings Multiplier – for each non-winning spin, the multiplier increases by one. When a spin does win, the payout is increased according to the number on the multiplier. After each payout, the counter resets to zero and starts again.
There are five pay lines on Tennis Champion, which are played in every spin. This maximises the chances of achieving a prize every single time the reels are spun. The minimum and maximum bets range from as low as five cents to as high as fifty dollars and can be altered manually by the player for each turn. Players can also set a maximum bet button to wager top dollar in a single click or choose automatic spinning through the auto bet feature.
Tennis Stars
The Tennis Stars slots game has a retro look to it, with plenty of grass courts in the background and old-school graphics and animations. Developed by Playtech, Tennis Stars is designed to appeal to an audience that are more interested in exciting gameplay than flashy animations.Â
The soundtrack running in the background helps to recreate the vibe of a real tennis tournament, upping the tempo when there is a possibility of the player making a key shot (or spin!). Rolling three wild cards earns the player 15 free spins along with a multiplier that can increase winnings by up to three times. Hitting three scatters enters the players into the championship match, where they can win unique bonuses.
The plethora of bonus features is what truly sets Tennis Stars apart from the crowd. Players are invited to enjoy multiple opportunities to increase their pay-outs, earn free spins and achieve other bonuses. The user interface also allows for several customisation features, including setting the level of risk versus reward to potentially reach higher prizes.
Centre Court
Centre Court was one of the earlier tennis-themed slots and as such it is relatively light on animations and features when compared to some of the more recent releases. However, that is not to say the game is not exciting. Centre Court has a wide range of generous bonus features to enjoy, backed by tennis-themed sound effects to create the right atmosphere.
As the name would suggest, the main theme of Centre Court is Wimbledon – although it is not officially tied into the event, it is certainly inspired by the UK’s number one tennis venue. The game comes from leading developers Microgaming and includes a fairly broad range of features to tweak the game to the enjoyment of the player.
Centre Court allows for players to be in the thick of the action on court or to use the autoplay feature and participate as a spectator for up to 500 spins. Side games include the chance to double or even quadruple any winnings by guessing whether a card to be turned over will be red or black.Â
Sports fans will enjoy tennis-themed slots as a way to play real-money games off the court while still indulging in aspects of one of their favoured pastimes. Casinos and sports have always gone hand in hand – with tennis-themed slots, players can experience all the thrill of the Open from their own homes, or even from the palm of their hand via mobile.Â
Slots are one of the most popular casino games, typically covering anywhere up to 75% of the casino floor in brick and mortar venues. Online casinos typically offer hundreds of variations to choose from, including tennis themes and themes from other areas of popular culture.