The answer: > For nearly a century, tennis balls were white or black...In the late 1960s ...the BBC... broadcast Wimbledon, perhaps the most iconic of tennis t

The answer: > For nearly a century, tennis balls were white or black...In the late 1960s ...the BBC... broadcast Wimbledon, perhaps the most iconic of tennis tournaments, in color for the first time ever. > Broadcasting tennis in color brought the matches to life, but it made tracking the ball on screen difficult — especially when it fell near the white courtlines. So the International Tennis Federation (ITF) undertook a study that found that yellow tennis balls were easier for home viewers to see on their screens. An official 1972 ITF rule change required that all regulation balls have a uniform surface and be white or yellow in color. However, despite the difficulties for TV viewers, Wimbledon did not change the ball color to yellow until 1986.