While Wimbledon has the "formidable Royal Box," celebrities in N.Y. are "cleverly distributed in a number of locations when they visit the U.S. Open -- the President's suite, the Emirates, AmEx and a number of USTA suites," according to Peter Bodo of ESPN.com. Some of the celebs are "recruited by agents of the USTA, while others appealed directly to those agents or the USTA." The man "in charge of wrangling celebrities for the tournament" is U.S. Open Exec Producer of Entertainment Michael Fiur. He heads an office "with a staff of over 50 people deep in the bowels of Arthur Ashe Stadium" and "works hand in hand" with N.Y.-based Jim Mannino PR. Fiur: "It's a two-way street. We need places to put people, and the suite owners often want to host famous people. It can get complicated, which is why we have a daily meeting at 3 p.m. to review where we stand with our obligations." Celebs at the U.S. Open "usually fall into one of two categories: guests of players for a specific match (as Jay Z and Beyonce were for Serena Williams' second-round match) or general guests of the USTA." It is an "important distinction, because while those in the former category may get free transportation courtesy of the USTA, they're pretty much on their own otherwise." Guests of the USTA "are in for the entire day or night session." They are "expected to walk the blue carpet at the West Gate entrance to Ashe, where paparazzi lurk." They also are "expected to make themselves available for a short video sound bite for use on the U.S. Open website" (ESPN.com, 9/7).
FACES IN THE CROWD: Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. and Warriors F Draymond Green sat together during last night's Williams-Simona Halep quarterfinal match. ESPN’s Chris Fowler said, “A little NFL-NBA partnership there. ... Green of the Warriors of course and what do he and Serena Williams have in common? Saginaw, Michigan, is their hometown" ("U.S. Open,” ESPN2, 9/7).
