Thomas G. Bata · YPO Global Business Summit · Istanbul 2026 · Ten minutes

Four generations, one idea.

Five slides on INTENNSE for a room of chief executives: a family that has made shoes for four generations, and a tennis league built around families, pathways and the joy of playing as a team.

The five slides · PDF A View of INTENNSE · PDF

Freeze players jumping and spraying champagne under confetti, beneath banners reading Freeze 2026 Champions.
INTENNSEThomas G. Bata · YPO Global Business Summit · 01 / 05

A family business, four generations on

Four generations, one idea.

  1. 1894Tomáš Baťa founds the company in Zlín.
  2. YPOThomas J. Bata was a founding member of the Young Presidents’ Organization.
  3. 1936The Bata Tennis shoe.
  4. 1977Bata and Wilson make shoes together.
  5. 2026Wilson sponsors INTENNSE, and its champions lift the Bata Trophy.

Fewer than 30% of family businesses reach a second generation. 3% reach a fourth.

Family-business survival: YPO, “What makes a family business last,” April 2022.

What to say · about two minutes

My father helped start YPO, so this room is a little like coming home. Our family has made one thing for four generations: things people wear to walk, work and play in. In 1977 we made shoes with Wilson. This summer Wilson sponsored a new tennis league, and its champions lifted a trophy with our name on it. My son chairs that league. Let me tell you why a shoe family cares about it.

A Rise player high-fiving a small girl held in a teammate’s arms, the team smiling around them.
INTENNSEThomas G. Bata · YPO Global Business Summit · 02 / 05

Families first

Tennis has always run on families.

The parents who drive, pay and sit in the stands have carried this sport — mostly on their own. INTENNSE puts the family at the centre: every team lives at a home club, and every match is one three generations can watch together.

“Families first… the organizing principle that knits together our entire vision.”

Charles Allen · Chief Executive Officer, INTENNSE

“This one you can have fun.” — a young fan, there to watch his sister play

What to say · about two minutes

Every tennis player you have ever watched had a family behind them: driving to tournaments, paying for coaching, sitting alone in the stands. Tennis has never given those families much back. INTENNSE starts from them. Teams live at home clubs, the whole family comes, and a boy who came to watch his sister told us the difference in five words: this one you can have fun.

A young ball keeper riding on the shoulders of a Freeze player, both grinning, under Championship Weekend signage.
INTENNSEThomas G. Bata · YPO Global Business Summit · 03 / 05

The whole ecosystem

A pathway for everyone who makes a match happen.

  • PlayersFrom club and campus teams to a professional roster.
  • CoachesA four-level coaching pathway. USTA Atlanta’s Executive Director coached eight of our players this season.
  • Ball keepersMore than a hundred young people, in team jerseys, part of the competition.
  • ScorekeepersThe next pathway we are building.

One format, from a public court to the arena.

What to say · about two minutes

A tennis tournament brings in the stars and leaves. We built the opposite: a system where everyone who makes a match happen has somewhere to grow. Players, from club and college teams upward. Coaches, on a pathway of their own. More than a hundred young ball keepers who wear the team jersey and are part of the game. Scorekeepers are next. It is the same format at every level, from a public court to our arena.

An INTENNSE team celebrating together at the net in front of a packed arena crowd.
INTENNSEThomas G. Bata · YPO Global Business Summit · 04 / 05

From a lonely sport to a team sport

A deep talent pool the economics have failed.

~150The ranking at which a professional player breaks even. Of our 2026 draft, every man and 19 of 21 women never reached it.

So we pay them to play as a team: equal pay for women and men, a guaranteed base, coaching, training and support, with prize money on top.

Players called it “the best summer of their lives.”

Break-even: Schöttl et al., Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 2026.

What to say · about two minutes

Tennis is a lonely business. A 2026 study puts the break-even point for a professional at about a ranking of 150. Almost none of our players ever got there, and they are superb. The sport simply has no professional home for them. We give them a team, equal pay for the women and the men, a guaranteed base and real support. What came back surprised us: joy. Players called it the best summer of their lives.

Wide view of the INTENNSE Arena in Atlanta during a match, court lit and stands full.
INTENNSEThomas G. Bata · YPO Global Business Summit · 05 / 05

Season 2 · Atlanta · June to August 2026

What one season built.

46KAtlanta households per match on local TV
12 of 13sponsors from the home city
1.73Mchampionship-week views
INTENNSE FreezeINTENNSE OutridersINTENNSE RiseINTENNSE RipsINTENNSE SmashINTENNSE StingINTENNSE AltitudeINTENNSE FortuneINTENNSE InfernoINTENNSE Ridge

Every team lives at a home club, plays for the community around it, and is headed for a city of its own. That is our reason for being: belonging. Everyone can be themselves here — and everyone is IN TENNIS.

INTENNSE Season 2 results, season closed 1 August 2026. intennse.com

What to say · about two minutes

In our second season, a local TV audience of forty-six thousand households watched a typical match. Twelve of our thirteen sponsors came from the home city, and a million and three-quarter views came in championship week. But the numbers are not the point. Every team lives at a home club and plays for the people around it, and each is headed for a city of its own; our champions are Montreal’s team. The reason we exist is belonging. Everyone can be themselves here, and everyone is in tennis.