Nude tennis tourney set for Webcast

Anyone interested?

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) --Naked tennis, anyone? A Florida nudist colony is planning what it's calling the first-ever webcast of a nude tennis tournament.

For a fee of $10-$13, Internet surfers can go to http://www.TennisInTheBuff.com and watch on demand the two-hour tournament after it's played Sunday.

Twenty naked tennis players are competing for a $2,000 prize in front of 100 naked spectators. A tape of the event will be edited to make sure that all who appear nude have given their consent, then the event will be quickly posted to the Web site.

Sponsors like Miller Lite have been lined up, and organizers, anticipating success, are already planning subsequent tournaments, including naked volleyball and naked karaoke.

"Maybe we'll make the karaoke one interactive," said Donald Whalen of the recently formed Florida company the Nudist Webcasting Network. "Like a nude 'American Idol."'

There are about 150,000 nudists in the United States and, hopefully, there are many who are curious enough to pay to see some of them in all their naked glory, said Elf Anderson, marketing director at Florida's Lake Como Nudist Resort, where the tournament will be played.

The resort and its partner, West Grove Nature Preserve and Sports Center, will split revenue from the event with the Nudist Webcasting Network.

Those who seek out the video should not expect to see Playboy models, Anderson said. In fact, the competitors, both male and female, are fine athletes but fairly average looking. "We want to show nudism in its true state," she said.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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