Why Are Tennis Balls Yellow?

Turns out, we owe the distinctive yellow color to our favorite nature documentary narrator, David Attenborough! Yea, seriously. We read this article this week and had to share. That vibrant “tennis ball yellow” that seems like it’s always been the color, owes its origin to an unlikely combination: television technology and the influence of one Sir David Attenborough. In the 1970s, as color television became more widespread, Attenborough was an exec at the BBC and encouraged a shift from white tennis balls to yellow to enhance the visibility on the new color screens. This change was prompted by the advent of color cameras, which struggled to capture the fast-moving white balls against the green courts. The yellow color provided much more contrast, making the balls easier to see; for both players and viewers alike. The more you know!