"That Red Light" & The Blueprint: Returning to Lowell, where 20 years ago today, Tennis Channel went live for the first time

WATCH: The intro to the very first live broadcast on Tennis Channel, from the 2003 Fed Cup in Lowell.

LOWELL, Mass.—Twenty-five photographs line the concourse of the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, commemorating the 6,500-seat arena’s quarter-century of existence. They highlight significant hockey games, notable concerts, renowned comedians and professional wrestlers that both played to and ragged on a suburban Boston crowd. What you won’t find are tennis players; the best comp might be friend-of-Federer Trevor Noah, who took center stage at the Tsongas Center in 2018.

Yet it was in this venue, 20 years ago to the day, that tennis, in an American viewership sense, was born.

“We’re delighted that you could join us for, what really is a coming-out party for us,” the veteran host Barry Tompkins welcomed viewers from Lowell on April 26, 2003—Tennis Channel’s very first live broadcast.

Those watching where the network was available weren’t going to threaten Nielsen rating records, but in the forest of live sports, a tree had fallen, and it made sounds that reverberate two decades later.

“This is the fruition of an idea that was born in a conversation over a table in New York a couple of years ago,” Tompkins continued. “We are The Tennis Channel (it had the The back then), and what we hope to do is put a new spin on an old sport.

“We’d like to think we’ve got game, and this is just the first service.”

For OG Tennis Channel viewers, it was an ace. Professional tennis that required labyrinthine or expensive (if not illegal) means to watch now had a platform whose access would grow exponentially. Fed Cup, the international women’s team competition, was a perfect example of an event ill-suited for most networks but a sweet spot for this upstart.

And while there are no rooting interests in broadcast beyond a compelling story, it didn’t hurt to have the Williams sisters help tell Tennis Channel’s first. Venus and Serena led the U.S. team to a 5-0 victory in a first-round tie against the Czech Republic, playing all 10 sets in singles and doubles without losing one. They wouldn’t suit up for the stars and stripes again that season, despite the team reaching the final.

It was, for the first of many times, an example of Tennis Channel finding itself in the right place at the right time—a credit to the network’s insatiable demand for being where the action happens, despite all of the sport’s unique challenges.

“I can’t give you months of lead time to prepare for a tennis broadcast, like I can with football,” Tennis Channel CEO Ken Solomon said earlier this year, explaining those challenges. “I can’t even tell you who’s playing this Thursday, much less on Saturday or in the Sunday finals. I can tell you who’s playing today, but wait—it’s raining. I can tell you what time, but wait—this player is scheduled for third on after 11 a.m.”

In that seminal live shot from Lowell, Tompkins stood alongside Katrina Adams, a 22-time doubles champion on tour who would go on to become CEO of the United States Tennis Association. Clearly, Adams has never been cowed by the spotlight, but this moment was different.

“When that red light went on that camera, Barry opened the show, and I had a tight-lipped smile on my face, nervous as all get out,” Adams says today. “Sweating underneath my suit. I don’t remember what my comments were; I’m sure they were fairly generic and basic. Just because…I didn’t want to mess up.”

But with “greatness” surrounding her in the booth and on the court, recalls Adams, she quickly found her footing.

“It was such a thrill and an honor to be the first color analyst—and actually being of color, it meant a lot to me.”

When we started in Fox Sports studios, at midnight to 6 a.m., on the weekends, calling matches that were in the can, just to get content. And now we're on live every single day, around the world. I think it's just incredible. Katrina Adams

In retrospect, the 2003 U.S. Fed Cup team was a historic squad to cover. Billie Jean King, now the namesake of the competition, captained the Americans. In the semifinal and final, 47-year-old Martina Navratilova played doubles matches. Along with Williamses, these four current and eventual Hall of Famers essentially represented women’s tennis, if not women’s sports at large, over the past 60 years.

It also included Chanda Rubin, who like Navratilova would come to work for Tennis Channel after her playing days. The Louisianan would clinch the U.S.’ next tie, against Italy in Washington, D.C. with a 6-0 third set, sending the Americans to the neutral-site final four in Moscow. (The U.S. would fall to France in the final.)

That quarterfinal, like all the others, was shown live on Tennis Channel.

“This is the essence of people who are invested in the sport of tennis,” says Rubin of the network. “I didn’t know how into tennis so many people are, and how invested so many people in showcasing the sport in a positive way.”

Aside from two courts on the UMass Lowell campus, ostensibly for the school’s club team and curious students, I found almost no evidence of tennis in this mill town during a visit earlier this month. An inquiry to the Tsongas Center for photos from the Fed Cup tie came up empty. The arena’s commemorative photograph for 2003 shows Jay-Z, who does have some tennis connections, but he’s more “03 Bonnie & Clyde” than ’03 Venus & Serena.

Keith Vaske, general manager of the arena, says he’s always on the lookout for mid-sized events like Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup.

“For an event like tennis, it would be a perfect spot,” Vaske says, pointing to the new VIP pavilion and speaking to the venue’s widespread renovation.

It would seem as unlikely as when Tennis Channel came to Lowell for the first time, 20 years ago. But should tennis ever return to the Merrimack Valley, you can bet that its channel would follow. Like it did two weeks ago, for a first-round Billie Jean King Cup tie in Delray Beach, Fla, and for hundreds of other tournaments in the U.S. and around the world.

As Jay-Z might put it, Lowell served as The Blueprint for Tennis Channel’s venture into the wild world of live sports.

“We thank you for being with us on our maiden voyage here on The Tennis Channel,” Tompkins said to close out the first day’s coverage. “And hey, what do you know, it wasn’t the Titanic—we’re going to sail again tomorrow.”

A few weeks later, on May 15, Tennis Channel went live full time, and hasn’t looked back.