Live Blog Coverage: The 2006 U.S. Open

That's all folks. The blog ends here. Enjoy the tennis this weekend and feel free to e-mail Dan (dkaplan@sportsbusinessjournal.com) to let him know what you thought.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Absent Etienne

Friday, Sept 8, 3:49pm ET.

One person you won't see at the men's final Sunday is ATP Chairman Etienne de Villiers. Since taking over his post in the middle of last year, de Villiers has attended only the French Open and Wimbledon finals (he was sick for last year's Open). He was here during the first week, but left for his home in London over the middle weekend. The Grand Slam committee, which sets policy for the Slams and is usually attended by representatives of the ATP and WTA, meets during the second week of Slams. That would mean de Villiers did not attend the Grand Slam committee here.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Courts with red carpets

Friday, Sept 8, 3:47pm ET.

The USTA has created a VIP area on two of its practice courts for Saturday and Sunday, complete with red carpet. Most of the celebrities who attend the event are invited to prematch cocktails in the space. Fashion and celebrity journalists and photographers also show up, giving it something of a Hollywood feel. The concept was Arlen Kantarian's, and it was instituted in 2001. For the last two years the event had been at the indoor practice courts, but those were torn down and will not be replaced until 2008.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Reebok set to tout Mauresmo

Friday, Sept 8, 2:55pm ET.

If Amelie Mauresmo wins the U.S. Open, her apparel sponsor, Reebok, plans a small brunch Sunday afternoon with invited trade and fashion media. Mauresmo, despite being the No. 1-ranked player in the world, does not have a large global profile, especially in the U.S. A New York Times story before the Open noted that she has few endorsements compared with Maria Sharapova, though the Times list may have left out a few names. But whatever the case, it's a nice sign that Reebok would be working on her behalf to get her name out to so many different types of outlets. She plays a very appealing game of tennis and by all accounts is a friendly, engaging personality. Mauresmo was scheduled to play a semifinal against Maria Sharapova later today. The Times headline for that contest: “Matchup of Top Paid vs. Top Ranked.”

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Comparison shopping

Friday, Sept 8, 2:35pm ET.

The food prices at the U.S. Open don’t seem any more outrageous than at any typical sporting event, and the choices can be quite good, especially in New York, where food at sporting events typically ranges from horrid to moderately terrible.

But when it comes to merchandise, the prices run the range from pricey to obscene. Polo Ralph Lauren is the tournament apparel sponsor, but it is not the only game on site. Far from it. The U.S. Open store, Wilson, Lacoste and Nike all compete here.

Polo is by far the trendier and more upscale choice. The most expensive item I could find was a $398 Italian yarn sweater (didn’t buy it). Baseball caps ran $30. Another sweater ran $165, a collared shirt $95, and T-shirts were $40. A tote bag ran $135, while a mini tote bag was $45.

Next door at the U.S. Open store it was far more downscale, if you can call $50 sweatshirts downscale. A visor cost $22 ($2 more than Polo), a baseball cap $22, and a tote bag $46. Wilson is the official ball sponsor here, and, as expected, its small store is far more focused on tennis. Rackets and sneakers are for sale, as well as those jumbo balls kids get autographed. A big ball is $40. Here a sweatshirt is $70, and a T-shirt $39.

At the elegant Lacoste store a sweater goes for $135. A baseball cap at $40 is the most expensive on site, and jeans sell for $125. Nike’s store is the only unenclosed area — it’s more of a gigantic kiosk. Here you can buy sneakers and the sleeveless tennis shirts made famous by Rafael Nadal ($45 each). If you forgot your sunglasses, Nike sells them, too. And the cheapest baseball cap for sale on site can be found here — it’s $20.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Babcock wants tours to proceed with caution

Friday, Sept 8, 2:23pm ET.

Bill Babcock, the International Tennis Federation’s executive director, says he has a message for the men’s and women’s tours: Slow down. He is concerned that the two tours are taking easy money over the best interests of the sport by going to places such as the Middle East and Shanghai. Both tours have tournaments in the Middle East and China, and have big money flowing in from sponsorships in those regions.

Babcock would also like to see tournaments scheduled during Masters Series events. Currently, the elite nine of the men’s tour, two of which are also women’s events, prohibit other tournaments from playing at the same time. But that leaves lower-level players without options. And if a player loses in the first round, he or she loses an option to go elsewhere and play the next week, he said, if the Masters Series event is longer than a week.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Does George even play tennis?

Friday, Sept 8, 1:30pm ET.

George Foreman, a big sponsor of this event, is selling discounted grills as part of George Foreman Day at the U.S. Open. Seeing the upscale tennis crowd scuttle around lugging grills under their armpits is pretty funny. Is it just us, or does it seem a bit schmaltzy for the Open to name each day after a sponsor? A fabric sign greets fans entering at the South Gate, welcoming them to George Foreman Day. Yes, the Open wants to be more than just tennis. But what makes tennis and golf events special is the sniff of rarified, elite air, the sense that this is an upscale event. It seems so minor league baseball to have George Foreman Day, or American Express Day, or whatever the case may be. Of course, it could have been worse. Salton, the maker of the grill, originally approached Hulk Hogan about endorsing the grills that now carry Foreman's name.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Heard over the air

Friday, Sept 8, 1:00pm ET.

USA Network analyst Jim Courier, during a best shots highlight reel, said of Rafael Nadal’s sleek red and black Nike wardrobe: “He looks like a superhero in this outfit.” Perhaps trying to emulate Nadal’s success against Roger Federer, James Blake donned a similar getup in his quarterfinal match against the reigning No. 1. Unfortunately, Blake’s loyal “J-Block” fan group didn’t get the memo. They were sporting Blake’s usual light blue color, worn in that match by Federer.

Posted by: Paul Sanford | Link

Young, USTA coming to Bradenton, Nick says

Friday, Sept 8, 11:09am ET.

Nick Bollettieri is a legendary showman, but he has consistently shown results, coaching some of the top stars in tennis, from Monica Seles to Maria Sharapova to Andre Agassi. Now he is turning his attention to 17-year-old American Donald Young. Young was hyped two years ago as a boy wonder who was found by accident at a senior men’s tennis event in Chicago when John McEnroe began hitting with a ballboy. It was Young. Young’s parents pushed him to enter pro tournaments last year, a mistake in many eyes, and he has been slaughtered. In fact, the set he won in his first-round loss here was the first he had ever won. He is still alive in the junior boys draw.

Young’s name has become something of a punchline given his 0-10 record, but Bollettieri predicts he will be a big star. He says Young will be training at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Young is represented by IMG’s Gary Swain.

Bollettieri also said the USTA would be working with him soon. The USTA recently announced it would open a training center at the Evert Academy in South Florida in response to the dearth of top American players. The USTA historically had been a stuffy organization, so the flamboyant Bollettieri was not their cup of tea. Things have changed at the USTA, though, and it looks like, if Nick is right, the two will be hatching another training program in Bradenton. Bollettieri says to expect an announcement in the next few months.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Sports and money just naturally go together

Friday, Sept 8, 10:18am ET.

Most sports fans may not have heard of Falconhead Capital, but they sure would have loved to have been at the fund’s party Thursday night. Less than 24 hours after bowing out to Maria Sharapova, Tatiana Golovin was there, and so was recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Harry Carson, former New York Jet Marty Lyons, and Indianapolis 500 winner Danny Sullivan. And why were there so many IMG agents there, as well as Nick Bollettieri? Falconhead invests in leisure and lifestyle companies, so what gives?

A little history. Falconhead was founded by David Moross in 1998 in a venture with IMG (SportsBusiness Journal was also founded in 1998, so great minds think alike). The idea was to invest in professional sports, with IMG supplying the tips and sports know-how, and Moross the investment savvy. There were a few pro sports deals along the way, most notably the creation of an ESPN Classic for Europe, as well as the purchase and sale of the Skip Barber Racing School. Moross even almost bought a Premier League team.

But the focus of the fund soon expanded far beyond sports, first to recreational sports equipment, then to spas, and now even to a radar detector company. I spent 20 minutes chatting up Greg Blair, the CEO of Escort, an Ohio-based company owned by Falconhead. No sports insight here, but I was informed that drivers who buy radar detectors speed less than those that don’t. Either it’s because people who buy radar detectors are so focused on their speed they don’t go over the limit too much, or because the high-end customers who buy the product for the most part are not likely to be reckless.
Back to sports, and all the agents and sports personalities. Moross still has personal ties with IMG after all those years of working together. Gavin Forbes, the co-head of IMG men’s tennis, is the godfather to Moross’ kids. Forbes was there, as was Olivier van Lindonk and Carlos Fleming, two top agents. One investor in Moross’ more-than-$200 million fund said Wall Street is about sizzle, so these personalities bring attention. Moross knows Carson through Falconhead’s charity golf tournament.

The evening itself was organized by a sports person. Steve Warshaw, president of Universal Sports Marketing, planned the party at the St. Regis hotel in midtown Manhattan. Warshaw is active in Russian sports marketing, and is a married to a former tennis player.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Seen and Heard Around the U.S. Open: Day 11

I stream, you stream?

Thursday, Sept 7, 5:17pm ET.

Sony Ericsson may have been titling the WTA Tour now for 18 months, but the earliest chance it can get to stream WTA events to its subscribers will be 2008, nearly halfway through its deal. That's because WTA media deals that expire after 2007 prohibit streaming. So while the ATP and USTA have been experimenting with streaming over the Internet, it won't happen with the WTA for at least another 15 months. Scott said the streaming prohibition was a conscious decision built into the existing agreements. In addition to Sony Ericsson, many WTA media partners, such as Eurosport, are interested in streaming and how it will fit into their overall media packages, Scott said. So don't look for any big shifts in the type of mediums that carry WTA matches until 2008, but then changes could come fast and furious.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Female reporters send protest letter

Thursday, Sept 7, 4:29pm ET.

Tennis reporters did send a letter of protest to Billie Jean King about the USTA not allowing female tennis reporters into the men's locker room during Andre Agassi's farewell address to his peers on Sunday, despite the USTA's open locker room policy.

The writers sent the letter to King because the USTA named the National Tennis Center after her at the start of this tournament. The letter was written by Jane McManus, a writer for the Journal News. The one male writer to sign it was her colleague, Ian O'Connor. The letter was actually sent care of King's attention to her World TeamTennis organization.

The USTA has responded that a mistake was made by an ATP employee and that its policy remains open locker rooms.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Eat the banana

Thursday, Sept 7, 4:15pm ET.

On-court coaching at WTA events has been met with mixed reviews, but the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour plans to continue the experiment in the fall. Long taboo, on-court coaching made its debut on the WTA at two summer events. Players could get coached once during a set, and also between sets. At three European events this fall, that will continue, said WTA CEO Larry Scott, though coaching will only be allowed between sets.

The thinking in the shift was that coaching timeouts during sets had created awkward stoppages of play, and that coaching should be limited to natural halts in competition, Scott said. The three events are in Zurich; Linz, Austria; and Stuttgart, Germany.

Many in tennis think this is a bad idea because tennis is an individual sport, and a player’s ability includes not just ground strokes and serves, but his or her wits. The tour’s rationale is twofold: One, many players already secretly receive coaching from their parents or coaches in the stands, and two, coaches could become celebrities and part of game strategy in their own right, as they are in other sports.

The U.S. Open is not part of the WTA, so it is not part of the plan, though the USTA has considered it. USA network mocked the charade of the coaching ban during the Sharapova-Golovin match last night. Its tape caught Sharapova’s father, Yuri, holding up a banana, and at the next changeover, Maria ate one.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

No deal, and no desk

Thursday, Sept 7, 1:41pm ET.

A couple of media items:

The USTA is going to announce today that it has renewed its contract with Eurosport for the U.S. Open, either through 2010 or 2012. Overseas rights bring in millions of dollars to the Open coffers, and Eurosport is one of the bigger players, so this is not an incidental announcement.

And, alas, the Sprint sports desk we wrote about last week is not going to happen. Sprint is still sending video highlights to its subscribers, but no sports desk this year. We'll let you know if we find out why.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Heard over the airwaves

Thursday, Sept 7, 1:30pm ET.

Following his quarterfinal victory over Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick was interviewed on-court by USA Network’s Michael Barkann, who said, “(USA Network’s Ted Robinson and John McEnroe) noted in the booth that you’re playing like the old Roddick. What does that mean to you, playing like the old Andy Roddick?”
Roddick: “No, this is the new Andy Roddick.”
Barkann: “And what’s different?”
Roddick: “They’re the experts. They should be able to tell you, right?”
Barkann: “They will in a second but I’d like to hear from you on it.”
Roddick: “I’ll take their opinion as fact.”
Barkann: “Oohhh, we’ll get to John in a second.”
McEnroe: “The new Andy Roddick, OK. I meant he was playing well. Somehow that was twisted in a way. Maybe that was Jimmy. That was Connors there!”
Robinson: “(Roddick’s) got a little edge to him now. It’s a little of that swagger that a champion has.”

Posted by: Paul Sanford | Link

Late-round winners have Bollettieri smiling

Thursday, Sept 7, 11:26am ET.

Walked into the grounds this morning with Nick Bollettieri, the aging tennis coaching legend, and he was crowing. Last night's encounter between Tatiana Golovin and Maria Sharapova must have been replicated many times on the courts of his IMG-owned academy in Florida. Both players spent their formative early teen years there. I actually met them both on a trip there six years ago, and Bollettieri was crowing about them then. Both were precocious and were tagged early on as future stars. This morning Nick also had two other academy success stories: Jelena Jankovic, a semifinalist, is another product, as is Tommy Haas, a quarterfinalist who was won two straight five-set matches with fifth-set tiebreakers. The old coach was certainly smiling.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Heard over the airwaves

Thursday, Sept 7, 10:30am ET.

USA Network’s Jim Courier: “We heard a lot of talk around the French Open and around Wimbledon about how U.S. tennis was in trouble with (Andre) Agassi retiring on the men’s side. Well, guess what? We’ve got two Americans still remaining and they’re both looking pretty darn good. So I think they’ll be a few people eating crow.”

Following his victory over Tomas Berdych in the fourth round, James Blake donned a No. 15 Mets jersey of center fielder Carlos Beltran while hitting his autographed tennis balls into the crowd. Blake: “I need to let people know I am a true, blue Mets fan. I have been since back in the day. Both my parents are Mets fans and I still remember the ’86 series. … I’m a little upset I couldn’t get one out of the stadium when I did batting practice, but I hit the 396 sign.”

USA Network’s Ted Robinson, on Tatiana Golovin’s tennis dress she wore in her quarterfinal loss to Maria Sharapova: “Her 2006 wardrobe has been a major improvement over 2005 when we thought we had decency issues.”

USA’s Tracy Austin: “You didn’t like those short-shorts?”
Robinson: “They weren’t shorts. They were shorter than shorts. They did not qualify as shorts. They were briefs, and every teenage boy in America was ecstatic and every father of a teenage girl was not, like me.”

Robinson, on the silver Nikes that Sharapova wore in her quarterfinal win over Golovin: “Are those silver slippers she’s wearing? What color are those?” After the camera showed a close-up of the shoes, Robinson said, “How about that look? I kind of like those. It’s a little takeoff of what they walked on the moon with.”

Robinson, on Sharapova’s Nike black dress she has been wearing for her night matches: “Her dress for the night matches, I think, has been very stylish, and I know that’s going to boost sales when I tell you that.”

Austin: “You can’t buy this dress.”

Robinson: “(Maria Sharapova’s) advisers have served her very well in some ways. The (Nike “I Feel Pretty”) commercial is outstanding. That’s one of the best commercials.”

Posted by: Paul Sanford | Link

Seen and Heard Around the U.S. Open: Day 10

Teddy loves tennis

Wednesday, Sept 6, 12:09pm ET.

Everyone by now knows that Ted Forstmann bought IMG in 2004 and has shed various units of the sports marketing giant, but not the tennis division. What some people may not know is how much Forstmann loves tennis. In fact, for the last 22 years he has hosted an annual pro-am at his Long Island mansion the week before the Open. He calls it The Huggy Bear.

The Huggy Bear name comes from a combination of the nicknames of brothers Tony and Ted Forstmann. Tony was called "Huggy" by his children. Ted is called "Teddy" by close friends. So Huggy + Bear (as in Teddy Bear) became The Huggy Bear, a tournament focused on raising money for children.

What is notable about the event is that not only IMG clients participate. The doubles playing Bryan brothers, for example, are Blue Equity clients and they take part every year.

Forstmann has said the tennis division is a key part of the new IMG. And a company spokeswoman, Jane Singer, re-affirmed that this morning, and even said that IMG is looking at a number of growth opportunities in the sport. Eight charities will benefit from this year's Huggy Bear: ACE Africa, Autism Speaks, Camp Boggy Creek, The Children's Scholarship Fund, Friends of Nick, Hollygrove, The Southampton Fresh Air Home and United Friends of the Children.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

It’s the nature of the sport

Wednesday, Sept 6, 11:00am ET.

Tennis shows itself off here at the Open as a glamorous, international undertaking with style, suspense and high-priced food. But the political side of the sport is so unlike that of other sports, it constantly makes you wonder.

Take yesterday's press conference with Patrick McEnroe to announce the Davis Cup team. Here was a CBS and USA announcer taking time off during a tournament put on by the USTA to announce a team that is run and operated by the USTA. There is no suggestion here that McEnroe pulls his shots on air for Davis Cup members, and he even said Andy Roddick has taken a beating both from McEnroe and the rest of the media for his recent play. But McEnroe's role as journalist and team coach do cross paths. Asked a question about Andre Agassi taking cortisone shots, McEnroe responded that he went to the tournament doctor for an answer. That doctor also happened to be the Davis Cup team doctor. So McEnroe’s source is both a source and a colleague.

Tennis is often conflicted. This space last week mentioned that management agency Octagon sits on the WTA Tour board and asserted that this is a conflict. That drew a heated response from Phil de Picciotto, who runs Octagon's athlete representation division. His point is that the board is made up of different constituencies and that all take a vow to vote in the best interests of the sport. He also described the current WTA board as the most apolitical in the history of the sport. Perhaps that is so. And maybe these conflicts are inevitable in an individual sport like tennis that is so global and has so many interest groups. But, while it is almost certainly a pipe dream, John McEnroe’s recent call for Andre Agassi to be the commissioner of the sport seems like a good idea. Of course, Phil might point out that Andre's agent, Perry Rogers, sits on the ATP board. It never ends in this sport.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Feeling a little Blue

Wednesday, Sept 6, 10:02am ET.

Talked to Ken Meyerson, Blue Equity’s tennis chief, and he was a bit sleepy after a late night of seeing off Colin Smeeton, whose last day with the company was yesterday. Smeeton, remember, is moving to Las Vegas, where he will work in Agassi Enterprises’ golf division. Smeeton, however, will remain an outside consultant to Blue Equity until February for his old clients, Meyerson said, including Justine Henin-Hardenne and Sam Querrey. Perry Rogers, Agassi Enterprises chief, got to know Smeeton when SFX formed its marketing relationship with Andre Agassi (SFX recently became Blue Equity). Meyerson wished Smeeton the best, and he also wanted to lay to rest one rumor making the rounds here: that Blue Equity’s contract with Andy Roddick expires in December. Meyerson said the opposite is true — that a long-term deal is in place. However, he declined to say for how long.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Seen and Heard Around the U.S. Open: Day 9

Squatters in Armstrong Stadium

Tuesday, Sept 5, 3:43pm ET.

The USTA is hyping its attendance figures, saying that for the first time it went over 400,000 paid in one week. Obviously that is not a turnstile count, because with five sessions canceled due to rain, the actual spectator count might have been 100,000 fewer. The USTA also created a new session Sunday night as a make-good for anyone with tickets to a rained out session. That meant ticket holders for that night could not go in, and technically the USTA is within its rights, as night matches are never scheduled on Armstrong. But there are almost always matches going on there anyway, and it's assumed among ticket holders that they can pile into the stadium on a first-come, first-seated basis. The New York Times blogged that several hundred people refused to leave that night after the last day session match concluded, and that the USTA ended up letting them stay. New Yorkers do love a bargain, and there are so few of them in this city. But more on merchandise prices another day.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Where’s the buzz?

Tuesday, Sept 5, 3:30pm ET.

Even taking the media bus back to Manhattan from the BJK National Tennis Center, you can’t escape Maria Sharapova. Canon has two billboards featuring the blond Russian, and Tag Heuer another. The only other tennis player I think I spied was in a Lacoste ad that depicted two players diving for balls, and one seemed to be Andy Roddick (he endorses the crocodile). Other billboards had nothing to do with tennis. Despite the hype surrounding the Open in New York, you can easily walk around the city and have no idea it is going on. American Express is sponsoring viewing areas at Rockefeller Center and Madison Park, and the USTA is advertising in spots like subway cars, but I haven’t seen city buses wrapped as they have been in the past. And why doesn’t the USTA insist on having ads on its courtesy buses, which leave every half hour from three locations in midtown?

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Like bees to the flower

Tuesday, Sept 5, 2:17pm ET.

The second week of the Open always gets a little slower, as losses send players and their entourages packing. But if the players’ lounge seems more racuous anyway, it’s because of the start of the junior event, which is both a great opportunity to get closer to tomorrow’s stars and a chance to see agents and manufacturers jostle to watch them play.

Donald Young, the young American who has deals with Nike and Head, competed and won with his agent, IMG’s Gary Swain, courtside. But he’s the exception. Many of these players do not have representation, which causes agents to swarm around out-of-the-way courts, such as the one on which Chelsea Gullickson, the younger daughter of former baseball pitcher Bill Gullickson, was in action before rain delayed her match today against Lauren Albanese, another American.

Part of the fun from a business side here is figuring out who is watching whom.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Unequal access

Tuesday, Sept 5, 11:26am ET.

Some female sports writers at the Open have been discussing whether to send a letter of protest to Billie Jean King and the USTA after they were denied access to the men's locker room during Andre Agassi's farewell address to his peers on Sunday. After Agassi lost his final match, his emotional farewell to fellow players became part of the story.

The USTA says its locker rooms are open to all reporters, but apparently a player services employee did not get the message. The female reporters want to ensure that that doesn’t happen again. With the National Tennis Center being named last week after King, one of the great feminists in sports, the situation is certainly thorny. The USTA admitted that its policy went awry, with reporters from the New York Times, Las Angeles Times and Washington Post denied access.

“We have now met with the U.S. Open security chief, members of Summit [Security] and the supervisor of all locker room attendants and personnel to re-affirm what our locker room policies are in respect to the media,” said USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier in a letter sent last night to the International Tennis Writers Association.

The policy also asks that reporters of the opposite gender be announced before they enter a locker room.

The problem wasn’t limited to female reporters. According to Widmaier’s letter, a male reporter was denied access to the women’s locker room.

The Open is the only one of the four Grand Slam tournaments that not only has an open players’ lounge, but open locker rooms. It is unclear who the player services personnel who restricted the access worked for. Likely it would have been an ATP employee, though it could have also been a fill-in from the USTA.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Here’s to you ...

Tuesday, Sept 5, 9:00am ET.

If you were in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday for Andre Agassi’s final match, one of the songs you occasionally heard during breaks was Simon and Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson.” If you wondered why, though, here’s your answer: Actor Dustin Hoffman was in the president’s box for the match. Hoffman, of course, leapt to fame in the classic movie “The Graduate,” which featured the song.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Smeeton joining Agassi Enterprises

Tuesday, Sept 5, 8:27am ET.

Agent Colin Smeeton is leaving the former SFX Sports — now Blue Equity — to join Agassi Enterprises, where he will help manage golfer Adam Scott. Agassi Enterprises is run by Perry Rogers, Andre Agassi’s boyhood friend and business manager. Rogers also represents Shaquille O’Neal and runs Agassi’s charity and gala, which will occur next month. The firm represents only one athlete per sport, though with Agassi retired it is not clear whether Rogers would take on an active tennis player. Smeeton is moving from Washington to Las Vegas, where Agassi Enterprises is located. While at SFX, he helped represent Andy Roddick and was a key member of the group led by Ken Meyerson. There are no plans to replace Smeeton at this time.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Seen and Heard Around the U.S. Open: Day 5

That’s all for today, folks

Friday, Sept 1, 3:27pm ET.

It’s time to settle back and watch some tennis. Our U.S. Open blog will pick up again on Tuesday morning, after the long holiday weekend. Thanks for reading!

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

We interrupt this program ...

Friday, Sept 1, 3:26pm ET.

Turns out there is more than meets the eye to the story of the USTA streaming the Monday night sessions live on the Web. According to an source who is in a position to know, USA Network has a pre-existing agreement that will cause it to stop coverage at 9 p.m. ET on Labor Day night. At that point, the tennis will be simulcast to a variety of a cable outlets, one of which is the Tennis Channel. Another might be CNBC, which would make sense because CNBC is a sister company of USA. Both are owned by GE-Universal.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

When is a racket deal not a racket deal?

Friday, Sept 1, 2:55pm ET.

Bumped into CNBC’s Darren Rovell, who has been really pumping up the business network’s coverage of this event, with pieces in recent days on James Blake and Maria Sharapova (though a tabloidy question to Sharapova about whether she is dating Andy Roddick was not right for the forum, and thus wasted an opportunity to talk more extensively about why companies spend so much money to back her).

Anyway, Darren tells us that in his Blake piece he quizzes James and Prince marketing director Linda Glassel about why, 10 months after signing a deal, Blake is still playing with his old Dunlop racket. SportsBusiness Journal reported this story in April, and at the time Glassel told us she expected Blake to begin playing with Prince soon. That obviously has not happened, though Blake continues to promote Prince and place Prince caps on his racket.
As we wrote in this space on Monday, Blake showed up at a Prince party Sunday night. Rovell tells us that Glassel said this type of thing happens all the time. That’s simply not true. In the first place, there are not a lot of tennis players who switch rackets. Those who do usually have a racket primed to go when the deal is announced. And even if the racket isn’t ready, it doesn’t take 10 months to get it ready.

Prince CEO George Napier was overheard at that party saying Blake would not be playing with the product this year at all. Our call: If he’s not playing Prince by the Australian Open, the charade has to end.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Set your Tivo

Friday, Sept 1, 2:47pm ET.

As a little product plug, I’m scheduled to be on CNBC's “Squawk Box” at 6:50 a.m. ET Tuesday morning to talk about the Open.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Too much of a good thing?

Friday, Sept 1, 2:43pm ET.

Want an example of how tennis is different from more U.S.-centric sports? In press conferences after his matches, Roger Federer takes two sets of questions, the first in English and the second in German. Imagine a U.S. hoopster or football player doing that. I detected a subtle jab from the world No. 1 toward the U.S. Open in his answer to a question about the difference between this Open and the Australian Open. He said the Aussie Open is more focused on the players, while this country’s Open has so much else going on. There is a lot of criticism in tennis purist circles that all of the hoopla Arlen Kantarian has added to the event, such as loud music that distracts players on court, is not good. The thinking here is the little bands that litter the grounds probably are a too much and should go. There is enough noise here to begin with, and at the end of the day, most people are here for tennis and maybe to relax on the plaza, not to listen to an obscure musician.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Asked and answered

Friday, Sept 1, 2:31pm ET.

Bumped into John Arrix, the sports consultant who showed up Tuesday at the announcement that Sony Ericsson would title the Miami tennis event. He said then that he was helping the British company with U.S. activation, but that didn’t answer the question of whether he meant just for Miami, or for Sony Ericsson’s title deal with the WTA tour, too. Question answered: Arrix said he will help the company with both Miami and U.S. activation for the 18-month-old WTA deal.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

USTA insurance pays off

Friday, Sept 1, 2:00pm ET.

If you’re worried about USTA finances, breathe a little easier. USTA Executive Director Lee Hamilton said that Tuesday’s total washout was covered by insurance. Rain is still a preoccupation here, though, with new reports advising that all of Saturday, and maybe Sunday, as well, could be washed away.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

When it rains, the USTA is all washed up

Friday, Sept 1, 1:53pm ET.

The USTA pro tennis group rightly gets a lot of credit under Arlen Kantarian for turning the Open into more of an entertainment-themed festival. Kantarian was the subject of a gushing profile on CNBC this week, and the USTA rewarded him handsomely in his recent contract renewal. But there is one area where we notice that this place could use some improving: There is very little to do here during rain delays, even more so now than in recent years. On Tuesday during a rain delay a father and young son came up asking how to find the place where kids could hit tennis balls. He meant the Smash Zone, the large indoor facility that was like a tennis amusement park. Smash Zone was in the area that is now under construction. The USTA is building a new hospitality center, indoor tennis courts and performance institute. Hopefully, these areas will be able to accomodate fans looking for things to do during rain delays. But they won’t open until 2008. It would have been nice if the USTA, for all its talk about promoting tennis and giving fans a good show, provided some indoor entertainment.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Let’s make a deal

Friday, Sept 1, 1:19pm ET.

In terms of the typical chatter that goes on at these events among agents and sneaker companies, there is nothing major going on. The top players are signed to contracts already, and there are some bottom-feeder deals not worthy of mention.

However, there is one negotiation to pay attention to and that’s for Sam Querrey, the 18-year-old from California who won his first-round match and is scheduled to play later today. The 6-foot-6 Querrey’s agent, Blue Equity, is meeting with manufacturers here and word is that the deal will be a healthy one. Healthy in this context means a guarantee of a few hundred thousand dollars and incentives for winning.

That would be similar to the first deal signed by the player Querrey is so often compared to, Andy Roddick. Querrey is said to be drawing interest from most of the sneaker and apparel companies, including Nike, Fila, Reebok and Adidas. Querrey is wearing Adidas at this tournament, but he does not have a deal with the company. Blue Equity’s head of tennis, Ken Meyerson, two mornings ago promised us a strong contract for Querrey.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Agassi admiration society

Friday, Sept 1, 12:40pm ET.

Andre Agassi is admired
by both fans and fellow players.

With Andre Agassi much in mind today after his stirring, nearly four-hour victory (over both Marcos Baghdatis and back pain), it's worth noting that he is one of those rare athletes appreciated by his peers. Two days before the start of the Open, hundreds of ATP players gathered for their annual Grand Slam meeting, during which they gave Agassi a standing ovation.

Also at that meeting, The Tennis Channel showed a video it made just for the occasion, depicting players in a favorable light both on and off the court. The background music was from a Las Vegas band, an homage to Agassi, who also hails from the casino town. ATP chief Etienne de Villiers asked Tennis Channel CEO Ken Solomon at the French Open this year if Solomon could make such a video, and the result was a flashy, moving three minutes. The Tennis Channel is so proud of it that executives are even grabbing reporters and showing it to them on their iPods.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Heard over the air

Friday, Sept 1, 12:30pm ET.

USA Network’s Jim Courier noted that Gavin Rossdale, lead singer for Bush, was sitting in Roger Federer’s player’s box for his match against Tim Henman. Courier said Rossdale is a “big tennis fan.”

USA Network’s Ted Robinson, on the crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium for the Agassi-Marcos Baghdatis match Thursday night: “It almost feels like — looks like — more people have come in as the night’s gone on. This place is just about filled again, 23,000-plus. They set an attendance record … on Monday night.”

USA Network’s John McEnroe, on Andre Agassi taking a cortisone injection for his balky back: “We know this is his last event. He is rolling the dice a little bit. We worry as a friend of his and as someone who has seen him do so much for the sport, you just hope down the road he doesn’t pay a stiff price. But you’ve got to admire his determination to be out there and play his best.”

In the second set, with Andre Agassi leading Baghdatis 5-3, the crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium began cheering so loudly and doing “The Wave” that play was stopped for several minutes. McEnroe, on fans in the upper decks doing “The Wave”: “There’s people that really are paying hard-earned money. You’ve got to love them.” As the cheering continued, McEnroe said, “Nothing can stop them. We don’t want them to stop.”

Posted by: Paul Sanford | Link

Imagine there’s no sports desk ...

Friday, Sept 1, 9:31am ET.

A little more on the Sprint sports desk idea. While Sprint says no decision has been made, the USTA says it is, in fact, in development for next week. While that does not clear much up about whether it will happen, one thing is certain: If Sprint does do it, it won't have a physical desk at the U.S. Open, a USTA executive said. Rather it would be a virtual desk, with a well-known tennis analyst providing commentary, perhaps along with the video clips Sprint is currently sending to its customers. At the NCAA tournament, Sprint had a physical desk. At the Open, it will be imaginary.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

It’s a first. And it’s free.

Friday, Sept 1, 8:00am ET.

USTA Plans To Stream Monday
Evening’s Session

The USTA plans to stream Monday evening’s session live on usopen.org, the first time an Open match will be seen on a medium other than one of the group’s broadcast partners. Before the tournament, the USTA held discussions with MediaZone, an Internet broadcaster that streamed Wimbledon matches for sale this summer for the first time. So the U.S. Open matches Monday will also be the first Grand Slam matches ever available for free on the Internet.

The session will only be available in the United States, said Pierce O’Neil, the USTA’s chief business officer. There are no plans to stream matches later in the week. The idea is to get a feel for the technology and the viewership as the USTA begins to wade into digital media.

Earlier this year, usopen.org streamed an exhibition match between Pete Sampras and Robby Ginepri. And at the Open this year, Sprint has been streaming video highlights to its wireless phone customers.
O’Neil said the USTA chose Labor Day night to stream because it did not want to interfere with anyone on the job during business hours. (He was joking. I think.) When the NCAA chose to stream tournament games earlier this year, the media made much of the effect on worker productivity.

The thinking here is that eventually the U.S. Open will be available more widely on the Internet. With dozens of matches sometimes occurring simultaneously, there is just too much action for a broadcast or cable outlet to cover. This year DirecTV customers can choose the match they wish to see, and that model is sure to migrate to the Internet.

O'Neil said USA Network, the cable broadcaster that airs the tennis Monday night, has signed off on the live Internet broadcast.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Seen and Heard Around the U.S. Open: Day 4

IMG’s wild-card supply diminishing

Thursday, August 31, 3:42pm ET.

Just a thought about a story from last week. Former No. 1 women’s player Lindsay Davenport apparently considered suing the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour because she had not been given wild cards into events as she came back from an injury, a New York Times story disclosed.

The dispute is not our concern. It’s Davenport’s agent: IMG. For years IMG has been accused, rightly or wrongly, of running tennis. If that were true, though, doesn’t it seem likely that the WTA would have bowed to a top IMG client’s demands. That didn’t happen. (In fact, the only agency represented on the WTA board is Octagon in the person of Mickey Lawler, who manages that company’s women’s tennis division. Talk about a conflict!)

IMG for years owned a substantial number of events in North America, but after several sales is down to two: Miami and Palo Alto, Calif. That means the company has fewer wild cards to hand out to young clients, or to those like Davenport coming back from injury. Under new owner Ted Forstmann, IMG sold many of those tournaments because they were unprofitable. But they also fed another part of the business, that being the agent business. Now the company is at the mercy of the tour and tournaments for wild cards.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

You never know who you’ll run into

Thursday, August 31, 3:02pm ET.

The great thing about an event like this is that when you have a free moment to wander the grounds you inevitably run into interesting people. During a walkabout this afternoon, it was first Graham Agars, the ATP PR man who doubles as an Australian radio man during Grand Slams. He was running with some Indian food to get back to his booth, and complaining that the Indian food from a year earlier was much better.

While I was talking to him, Harold Hecht came over. Harold is a freelance tennis producer who has worked most of the Slams. He and his wife traveled with their 8-month-old daughter from their home in Los Angeles, largely to enjoy the Open. While Hecht did some work for the USTA here, he is mostly here as a fan. He bought some trinkets at the kids kiosk, including a U.S. Open licensed rubber duck for $8.

While talking to Hecht, Arnie Fielkow walked by. Arnie is a New Orleans councilman these days and is in town because of the Hurricane Katrina ceremony that was held on Arthur Ashe Court last night. Arnie was the New Orleans Saints marketing director before Katrina, and then had a falling out with team owner Tom Benson over the team’s commitment to the city in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane. Fielkow invites us down to New Orleans for the Williams sisters Dec. 5 charity match.

Walking back to the media center, I take a detour to check out the Lexus cars on display and run into Ken Meyerson, the Blue Equity tennis chief who manages Andy Roddick. A tall guy walks by and shakes Ken’s hands and says they are on for dinner, and Ken introduces us. It is Nicholas Barthes, the new head of Nike tennis. The son of a French father (who played on the ATP circuit) and a Canadian mother, Barthes does not sound French. In fact, he sounds very American. He is moving his wife, 2-year-old and 2-month-old to Portland, Ore., in the next month. He lauds his predecessor, Riccardo Colombini, who now is helping to run Nike Asia

Barthes was with Nike in 1996. In 2000, he jumped to IMG as an agent for a few years, and then ended up back at Nike France. Now he manages one of the most important players in tennis.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Heard over the air

Thursday, August 31, 2:40pm ET.

USA Network’s John McEnroe, on Luis Horna changing his Reebok sneakers during a break in the action because of a hole on the side of one of the shoes: “Wardrobe malfunction” (USA Network, 8/31).

Posted by: Paul Sanford | Link

Sprint may run its own show

Thursday, August 31, 1:46pm ET.

Sprint, in its second year as a U.S. Open sponsor, is considering having a broadcast desk at the tournament next week. The wireless phone provider is expanding in sports, broadcasting the NFL Network on its own Sprint channel, as well offering an array of video clips and highlights. U.S. Open highlights have been airing twice a day since Tuesday to 15 million subscribers.

Sprint staged a sports desk from the NCAA tournament in March with CBS Sports’ Bonnie Bernstein, who broke down the draw. The desk was located in Sprint’s own branded area, and the concept would be similar here. However, no decision has been made. Sprint became a sponsor with little lead time before last year’s tournament, so the execution this year is really the company’s first opportunity to showcase its technology at the event.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

USTA may build broadcast center

Thursday, August 31, 12:46pm ET.

Word from a USTA board member is that the association is considering building a broadcast center on the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Currently, TV trucks are parked behind Arthur Ashe Stadium, next to Long Island Railroad train tracks. Where the center would go is unclear. The USTA is undergoing a $50 million project on the eastern end of the center, where a new hospitality village, performance institute and indoor tennis courts will be housed.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Getting outside the box

Thursday, August 31, 12:00pm ET.

For those in the know here, an invitation to the president's box is the coveted item. It's not really a box, but a massive, two-story suite in Arthur Ashe Stadium. One of the perks of being a top-level USTA volunteer or the president is the right to invite people to the suite, which also has a wide range of outdoor seating. The downstairs is at least 10 to 15 times the size of an ordinary suite, and the same is true for the upstairs dining room (where, by the way, you can’t see the tennis). It’s always fun to see who is in the suite, and last night there was Ann Coulter, the bomb-throwing political commentator; Alec Baldwin, who is starring with Tina Fey this fall in a new NBC sitcom called “30 Rock”; Virginia Wade, the last Brit to win Wimbledon (in 1977); former men’s tour pro Ilie Nastase; and former New York Mayor David Dinkins, a USTA board member who, come to think of it, is always there.

People-watching aside, though, for real tennis fans, especially in the early rounds, the confines of the box can feel stuffy and the mismatches scheduled on the court unappealing. So usually the best bet is to catch a little of the social action, and then take off to see what else is going on around the grounds.

Sam Querrey

With Sharapova and her twinkling evening gown dress on the verge of winning (did she have an opponent?), I took off for Louis Armstrong Stadium, where Sam Querrey was playing. He is the 18-year-old from California who just turned pro (he is repped by Blue Equity, the former SFX). There is a lot of buzz about him, and after a few minutes, it was clear why. The 6-foot-6 kid has a massive forehand and a powerful serve. A wild card, he demolished his opponent, a German journeyman, and even got interviewed on-court for USA Network. He had about a dozen friends from California who cheered him wildly after the match.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Heard over the air

Thursday, August 31, 11:45am ET.

USA Network’s Tracy Austin, on Indian female player Sania Mirza: “(She could end up) in the top-25, top-20. She’s only 19. She has time. If she can only get more fit and not have those little injuries. She’s got huge, huge endorsements. She’s so well-known across Asia and India.”

USTA CEO Arlen Kantarian was profiled on CNBC’s “On The Money” last night, where he said the U.S. Open is “where tennis meets Disneyworld meets Hollywood meets Fifth Avenue.” CNBC’s Mike Hegedus: “It has been on Kantarian’s watch that the Open has seen its first prime-time women’s final, in-stadium video screens, blue — blue? — tennis courts, record attendance — 650,000-plus in 2005 — and gained a reputation for sports innovation.” Kantarian said the U.S. Open has “become an entertainment experience beyond just a tennis match on-court. Tennis will always be the main theater and the main attraction, but we’ve got sideshows now for people to enjoy.” Hegedus: “Reaching beyond the court to create the total fan experience has not only paid off in attendance but in sponsorship, the true lifeblood of any professional sport.” Another issue facing Kantarian is the lack of American stars in today’s game, with SI’s Jon Wertheim saying, “The challenge for someone like Arlen Kantarian is to make sure these fans can appreciate Roger Federer, even if he’s not from Denver, Colorado.” (“On The Money” CNBC, 8/30)

USA Network’s Tracy Austin, on the black Nike dress Maria Sharapova wore for her first-round match: “This is a special dress that she’s only going to be wearing at night. There was only a few of them made. She’s going to auction it off after the tournament. … (The proceeds) will go to her own foundation that she just launched last week to help at-risk kids.”

USA Network’s Ted Robinson, on Sharapova always playing hard on the court: “That’s to her credit. Thus far in her career she has not been distracted by the fame.”

Austin said Sharapova’s agent told her “the chances and opportunities that (Sharapova) turns down, to private planes to islands and just on and on and on … and she’s only 19. Most 19-year-olds would just thrive on that and love it, but she is so focused on winning.”

Robinson: “Part of the aura of the U.S. Open is the size of Arthur Ashe Stadium, and it’s New York. There is a constant noise … during these matches. The reason I mention it is Sharapova’s shriek — it’s not a grunt, it’s a shriek — isn’t as noticeable here as it is at

Wimbledon. Watching the beginning of (the Sharapova-Krajicek) match, it’s not as offensive. It was really offensive at Wimbledon.”

Following Sharapova’s first-round win over Michaella Krajicek, Robinson noted the vestlike covering Sharapova put on over her black Nike dress. Robinson: “Did Roger Federer start something at Wimbledon? That’s what I want to know. Sharapova’s got her own little wrap that she puts on and handbag.”

Following the match, USA Network’s Michael Barkann interviewed Sharapova on-court. Barkann told her, “If I might speak for just the guys, the dress looked fantastic.You looked pretty as the commercial … and we want to know, will we see it again?” Sharapova: “We will if I play a night match. For day it’s a little different. I hope you like it. It’s pretty.” Barkann then asked if Sharapova “will stay for the second match” that night, which happened to feature Andy Roddick, with whom, rumor has it, Sharapova is romantically involved. Sharapova said, after a pause and little smile, “No comment.” Barkann: “We were just wondering.” Austin: “The National Enquirer reporter down there.” (USA Network, 8/30)

Posted by: Paul Sanford | Link

Is tennis liberal or conservative?

Thursday, August 31, 11:00am ET.

Just a quick note on a surprising appearance late yesterday in the players’ lounge and media center — none other than Ann Coulter, the lightning-rod author of “Godless.” We hear that she was invited by USTA board member David Wheaton, a former player.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Seen and Heard Around the U.S. Open: Day 3

Heard over the air

Wednesday, August 30, 6:30pm ET.

CBS’s Patrick McEnroe, on Jimmy Connors coaching Andy Roddick for only a short time: “I think Jimmy Connors has had an influence already on Andy Roddick.”

McEnroe, on whether there is pressure on Maria Sharapova to win another Grand Slam title: “There’s a lot of pressure on her. Obviously, she’s laughing all the way to the bank. … The one thing you can say about Sharapova is, despite all the money and all the glamour and all the commercials, she puts it on the line when she goes out there.” (“PTI,” ESPN, 8/30).

Posted by: Paul Sanford | Link

But can it wash itself?

Wednesday, August 30, 5:12pm ET.

A week ago, on the Wednesday evening before the tournament started, U.S. Open sponsor Lexus hosted hundreds of people at a party on site. The party featured a new car that can parallel park on its own, something people in the sales business call a “hand-raiser,” that is, an item so hot that it has wealthy people raising their hands and saying, “I want me some of that.” A dashboard display allows the driver to show the car the space he or she wants it to move into, and then the car does it.

Many of the tournament’s sponsors use the event as big venue to entertain clients and reward employees, and sometimes unveil new or emerging products. IBM, for example, is running clients through the Open to showcase the dramatic reduction in the number of servers necessary to run usopen.org.

The dealers and top buyers who showed up for the car party also got a surprise appearance from Andy Roddick, who is a Lexus endorser.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

When we said no deal, we meant except for this one

Wednesday, August 30, 3:30pm ET.

Monday we wrote about Billie Jean King plugging American Express, an Open sponsor, but a company we said did not have a business relationship with BJK to the best of our knowledge. That last part should have been a dead giveaway, because of course it turns out she does. For the Open only, King and three other past greats — Mats Wilander, Chris Evert and Monica Seles — are part of an American Express contest in which the winners get to have dinner with one of the above and sit with them during the evening matches.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Heard over the airwaves

Wednesday, August 30, 2:30pm ET.

USA Network’s Jim Courier, on players challenging calls: “(The crowd) just starts cheering whenever a player challenges. It’s really great. Everyone gets all excited.”

USA Network’s John McEnroe, on some people complaining Billie Jean King went too long in her speech at the dedication ceremony for the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center and whether her content in the speech was questionable: “(Billie Jean King) is single-handedly to me is the most important person in the history of women’s sports. That’s not exaggeration.” McEnroe said King “certainly deserved to state her peace, whatever that was. It wasn’t like she was talking politics, what she thought we should do in Iraq.” (“Mike and the Mad Dog,” YES Network, 8/29).

USA Network’s John McEnroe, on the players having to wait around for rain delays, which could affect their games: “You look at this prize money and the winner (receives $1.2M) so you can wait around a little bit. … To show up now is $16,500. When the first U.S. Open was played in 1968 the winner got $14,000.”

Posted by: Paul Sanford | Link

Blake no go on the Agassi retro

Wednesday, August 30, 1:19pm ET.

James Blake plans to postpone his tribute to Andre Agassi because Blake is not scheduled to compete in Arthur Ashe Stadium today. Because of the backup of matches due to the rain yesterday, Blake is scheduled to play later today in Louis Armstrong Stadium, the No. 2 court. A Nike spokesman said the first time Blake plays on Ashe he will wear Agassi retro gear, including denim pants and a neon shirt. If Blake loses today, then the tribute will go down, too.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Yes, but how much did it rain at the airport?

Wednesday, August 30, 12:07pm ET.

The USTA’s rain policy is fairly straightforward for fans, but not so for itself. Here's what I mean: If no match is completed during a session, as was the case with both sessions yesterday, fans can get a replacement ticket for next year, or possibly one for later in the tournament. If all fans did so, the USTA would take a big financial hit, said Lee Hamilton, USTA executive director. But, historically, about one-third to 40 percent do so, minimizing the impact.

Then there is the USTA’s rain insurance policy, which is not so straightforward as to be based simply on whether a session is canceled. Instead, it is based on how much rain falls at LaGuardia Airport. That’s to make sure that the insurance does not kick in simply based on a USTA decision not to play, but rather on a hard fact such as the amount of rainfall. Hamilton, off the top of his head, did not know the inch count needed to kick in the insurance, though there was so much rain yesterday that it is hard to imagine it didn’t happen. What the policy means in practice is that if rains falls heavily for a limited amount of time, the USTA can collect insurance money and still get play in. That has happened, Hamilton said. Conversely, light rain can fall, forcing all play to be canceled without there being enough of the wet stuff to trigger the insurance. Hamilton did not say whether that has ever happened. Because the white painted lines get slick fast, even a mist causes play to cease.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Adding a roof wouldn’t be easy

Wednesday, August 30, 9:30am ET.

It was inevitable that this morning's newspapers would be filled with stories about why the Open does not have a roof with the first full washout since 1987. That was the story du jour in 2003, and our story then said the Open’s own consultant had estimated that a roof could be put over Arthur Ashe Stadium for about $20 million, a bargain compared with newer estimates of up to $82 million. That said, what some of the news reports miss are the economics. If a roof costs $82 million, is that a good investment balanced against a few washouts? Those hooting at the USTA for not having a roof should remember that the National Tennis Center is self-financed. And while it is true Wimbledon is paying for its own roof over Centre Court, that will be financed with debentures, a type of five-year personal seat license that U.S. sports have not tried. Maybe the USTA should try debentures, but placing a roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium or Louis Armstrong Stadium involves the city, too, which would then be able to host some winter events at the center. But try getting the funding out of city hall. Anyway, its a lot more complicated than just some missing some matches, though watching fans huddle against the side of Ashe yesterday was not a pretty sight.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Seen and Heard Around the U.S. Open: Day 2

Hospitality and the main event

Tuesday, August 29, 5-7:30pm ET.

For the next two years, the hospitality village has been moved off the grounds of the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center while the USTA builds new indoor tennis courts and catering space where the permanent space used to be. The temporary quarters are about 100 yards out of the south gate, and just a stone’s throw from the world famous Unisphere in Corona Park. The thinking by most was that the tents plunked down in the park would be a step down from a permanent facility. The opposite proved true: The space is better.

JPMorgan Chase’s director of sponsorship, Barbara Paddock, said she would encourage the USTA to replicate the large, airy feel of the main hospitality tent (there are several smaller ones on the side for more intimate gatherings). USTA executive director Lee Hamilton said he has heard that sentiment expressed many times already.

Tuesday’s main event was the annual City Parks Foundation charity dinner raising money for tennis initiatives that give free lessons to 7,000 New York City kids. It’s a wonderful charity and each year someone from the world of tennis is honored. This year it was the late publisher of Tennis Week, Eugene Scott, whose widow and two young children accepted the award.

Tennis scribe Bud Collins moderated the evening, and Billie Jean King, just a night after being feted at the naming rights ceremony, presented the award. Collins is already calling the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center “The Billie.” He also referred to Chase’s Barbara Paddock as “Padlock,” so maybe that will be her new nickname.

The outgoing USTA president, Franklin Johnson, was there, as was the expected incoming one, Jane Brown. The New York City park commissioner, Adrian Benepe, spoke and offered this tidbit: He was courtside as a park ranger in 1979 for John McEnroe’s U.S. Open victory.

Sponsors of the event included Bloomberg News and American Airlines.

Normally this event wraps up promptly at 7 so everyone can go watch tennis. But with rain having washed out the day session, and still coming down, no one was in a hurry to head out into the dreary evening.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Blake’s Agassi ‘tribute’

Tuesday, August 29, 4:45pm ET.

If No. 5 seed James Blake plays tonight — and that is no sure thing given rain has washed away most of the day’s proceedings — fans are sure to get a hearty laugh.

In a tribute to Andre Agassi, Blake plans to be wearing Agassi-like togs from the 1980s, including a neon-colored shirt, long shorts with spandex underneath, colored shoes and a bandana. He even had considered wearing a long-haired wig.

Agassi, of course, has been through many incarnations since his rebel days of the late 1980s when he burst onto the scene, so theoretically Blake could change his outfit at almost every changeover.

According to Nike, Blake’s sneaker and apparel company, the concept belonged to Blake. Agassi for most of his career endorsed Nike before two years ago switching to Adidas.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Going a little overboard

Tuesday, August 29, 3:40pm ET.

It’s understandable that the U.S. Open and broadcaster USA Network like to pump the scale and glamour of this event. But when USA’s Ted Robinson last night said the Open is the only annual sporting event of its kind in New York City, that was a bit much.

Not only is the New York City Marathon also an annual spectacle (not to mention the new volleyball tournament in Coney Island), the marathon also draws more people than the Open, belying the USTA’s claim to be the largest annually attended sporting event in the world. That doesn’t even hold for New York.

The Open may be the largest annually paid spectator event, considering the marathon is free to watch, so the Open should feel pretty good. It’s just not the biggest overall.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Heard over the airwaves

Tuesday, August 29, 3:20pm ET.

USA Network’s Jim Courier, on Amelie Mauresmo wearing a “preventive” wrap around her hamstring: “Can they put a logo on those wraps? Are we allowed to do that?”

Posted by: Paul Sanford | Link

Agassi trying to lay low

Tuesday, August 29, 2:00pm ET.

Andre Agassi may be big news here, but it’s not because he is trying to promote himself. He wouldn’t do sponsor events in the days leading up to the event and had already told the USTA that he didn’t want a big deal made of his final event. Before the tournament he turned down a request from Adidas to stage a publicity event, said Claus Marten, an Adidas executive.

These events are the norm before the Open, from the Federer-Nadal Nike street match to player appearances at concept stores. Marten did not seem too perturbed, however, noting that these outings usually get lost amid the media clutter and do not help the brand too much.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

ATP Media being hatched

Tuesday, August 29, 1:08pm ET.

I bump into Mark Webster, head of Tennis Properties Limited, lounging in the media dining room, waiting out the rain that has washed away the day so far. TPL is the entity that sells international media for the 10 Masters Series events. With the Masters Series apparently doomed under the new schedule being hatched at the ATP, the logical question for Webster is what will happen to TPL. The answer, he says, is it is already happening. TPL is disappearing and a new entity called ATP Media is emerging that will control various ATP media assets.

The entity will take a hard look at digital media. ATP.com had begun streaming of certain events, and the sport in general is finally realizing that this is a business it can no longer ignore. The WTA and ATP tournament directors heard from leaders in the digital media world yesterday, including Bob Bowman of MLB Advanced Media. Tennis is ideally suited to the medium because of its tournament setting. TV only shows you one match, whereas digital allows the viewer to choose whatever match they wish to see.

The Open this year is providing a similar service through DirecTV. Wimbledon went with an outfit called MediaZone, an Internet sports broadcaster. MediaZone and TPL had a bit of a tussle this summer when MediaZone streamed the finals of the Rome and Hamburg events. According to Webster, MediaZone had agreed as an experiment to show the finals on a one-hour delay basis. At the last moment MediaZone said it could not do this technologically, so TPL said pull the plug. Instead, MediaZone ran it anyway, Webster said, who adds it’s better for rights holders to run their own Internet broadcasts rather than license them out to companies such as MediaZone that don’t have the sport’s best interest at heart.

The Open had advanced discussions with MediaZone, and at one point in early August described the chance of going with the company as 50/50.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Tennis’ new ‘Glam Slam’

Tuesday, August 29, 10:30am ET.

The Miami ATP and WTA Tour stop has always promoted itself as the fifth Grand Slam, and now under new title sponsor Sony Ericsson, it wants to be known as the “Glam Slam.” Dee Dutta, Sony Ericsson’s head of marketing, at a New York press conference unveiling the deal said as each of the four Slams have their distinct identities, he wants glamour to be the tag of the new Sony Ericsson Open (previously the Nasdaq-100 Open). By this he means entertainment, technology and fashion also will become elements of the event.

Sony Ericsson, which 18 months ago began its title sponsorship of the WTA Tour, agreed to pay $20 million over four years, though tournament chairman Butch Buchholz said this was at most a guess because Sony Ericsson could spend a lot more.

The cell-phone company has hired John Arrix to assist with U.S. activation. Dutta, who is based in London, handled the talks himself. IMG, which owns the Miami event, also represented itself.

Outgoing sponsor Nasdaq-100 never made a play to stay in as title sponsor, though it will remain next year as a host sponsor, said Bob Basche, who represents the financial company. Buchholz said that while the company had one year remaining on its five-year title deal, he did not expect the company to stay on after that, and the exchange had “graciously” agreed to step aside in favor of Sony Ericsson.

Some will note the similarity between the new title sponsor and the one that predated Nasdaq. Then it was Ericsson, which licenses its technology to Sony Ericsson in a 50-50 venture with Sony. But Dutta said there are no similarities between the companies, and in fact somewhat derisively described Ericsson’s sponsorship as the old-style sponsorship of paying money just to put up a sign.

Also in attendance at the New York press conference at the Grand Hyatt in midtown Manhattan was Rob Correa from CBS Sports, which broadcasts the March tournament. He said the new deal should not affect the broadcast, in part because it is a time buy and incumbent on the tournament to sell the ads. He said he has had no discussions with Sony Ericsson yet about incorporating different technology into the broadcast.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Heard over the airwaves

Tuesday, August 29, 10:00am ET.

Darren Marshall, sports marketing director for Knowledge Networks, and Paul Swangard, managing director of the University of Oregon Warsaw Sports Marketing Center, appeared on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” today to discuss the advantages of being a U.S. Open sponsor. Marshall, on how long sponsors are willing to remain in a sport such as tennis to realize the benefits before getting out: “It’s something that takes three to five years to build to a peak and then it plateaus and then even if you get out of it, it’s still going to give you a lasting memory.” Swangard said, “We need more Andre Agassis to make American tennis palatable to corporate sponsors, who certainly drive the business forward.”

From CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Darren Rovell, on Andre Agassi winning a tough four-set first-round match at the U.S. Open: “It’s a good thing that Agassi will live for another day, certainly for the networks, and although there’s plenty of advertising of Agassi around here [at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center], the USTA doesn’t really cash in since most of the tickets are already sold. The greatest winners we saw last night seem to be the scalpers.”

From USA Network’s coverage, Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim, on Marco Baghdatis, who plays Andre Agassi in the second round of the U.S. Open and is a native of Cyprus, being followed by a television crew: “Reality TV has hit Cyprus. He’s being trailed everywhere by this camera crew. He doesn’t seem bothered by it. … They’ll have fun tomorrow night with Andre. … If you beat Andre Agassi in his final match, that gets another pilot for you.”

With rain causing a suspension of play at the Open, USA Network aired the Chanda Rubin-Nicole Vaidisova match from Monday. It then showed Agassi’s first-round match with Andrei Pavel from Monday night.

Posted by: Paul Sanford | Link

Sony Ericsson takes over Miami event

Tuesday, August 29, 9:30am ET.

The IMG-owned Masters Series event in Miami is switching title sponsors from Nasdaq-100 to Sony Ericsson, it was announced this morning. Sony Ericsson is also the title sponsor of the WTA Tour. It is a four-year, $20 million contract that begins in March 2007.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Heard over the airwaves

Tuesday, August 29, 9:30am ET.

Monday night’s edition of CBS’s “Evening News” profiled Andre Agassi as the legendary tennis player is playing in his last U.S. Open before retiring. Tennis commentator John McEnroe said, “Even though he had the wacky outfits and the crazy hair, through it all he’s always been a very thoughtful guy and a guy who seemed to know where he was going to go in the future.”

Posted by: Paul Sanford | Link

Seen and Heard Around the U.S. Open: Day 1

WTA beefs up with Usana

Monday, August 28, 4:00pm ET.

The Sony Ericsson WTA may not seem to have much with speed skating, but the two sports are now officially in the Usana camp.

Usana is a Utah-based supplements maker with which the WTA recently signed as its official supplier of nutrimental products. Usana supplies the U.S. and Canadian speed skating teams, and had 40 athletes at the Torino Olympic Games using its products. Usana paid a very small rights fee to the WTA and will supply the products free to the top 400 WTA players, said David Wentz, president of the company. He said he was impressed with the WTA’s concern for its athletes’ health.

Of course, with the high number of player withdrawals due to injury, keeping them healthy has become a paramount business decision. Wentz said most of the players don’t take supplements because of the fear of contamination. The company is promising up to a $1 million guarantee if it is found any player tests positive because of a tainted Usana batch.

Two years ago it was actually the ATP that had a problem with supplement tainting when its own trainers were found to be distributing products that caused players to test positive. Wentz said he had heard rumors that the ATP would approach his company, too, but to date he has not been contacted.

Usana plans no marketing campaign around the WTA deal. It will just become part of Usana’s distributors’ pitch to clients. The supplements that the company will provide include vitamin C, calcium, a multivitamin and a supplement that helps cartilage repair quickly.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

On the run

Monday, August 28, 2:00pm ET.

The New York Road Runners Club, organizers of the November New York City Marathon and the inaugural half marathon, which was run yesterday, was trotting Olympic marathon silver medalist Meb Keflezighi around the tennis center. A U.S. citizen, Keflezighi came in second in the half marathon.

The race got good attention in the local press, perhaps as much for the novelty of Times Square being shut down on a Sunday morning as for the race itself.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Big announcement tomorrow

Monday, August 28, 1:00pm ET.

I bump into David Tratner, the communications director for the Nasdaq-100 Open. This morning that tournament announced a press conference for tomorrow morning promising a major announcement. The way we see it, it is one of three things: Tournament chairman and founder Butch Buchholz is retiring; Nasdaq-100 is renewing its title sponsorship (or a new one is being named); or IMG is selling the event.

Tratner declined to say anything other than it was big, and that it would be big in the world of SportsBusiness Journal. Buchholz has said previously that IMG is very happy with the event, so it seems unlikely that IMG would sell it, especially as the company has identified tennis as an area of focus. Nasdaq’s sponsorship expires next year, and the two sides have been engaged in talks, so it is possible that Nasdaq is renewing. Anyway, we’ll let you know tomorrow, unless we find out earlier.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Heard over the airwaves

Monday, August 28, 12:30pm ET.

USA Network’s Jim Courier, on the USTA renaming the U.S. Open complex the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center: “This is not about Billie Jean King the tennis player. This is about Billie Jean King the pioneer, and that’s why it’s appropriate”

USA Network’s Tracy Austin, on no American woman being seeded in the top 10 at the U.S. Open: “It’s sad.”

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim, on Martina Hingis’ love life: “One thing that’s just been eerie is when she dates an athlete his career — unfailingly, inevitably — just tanks. You should chart this. She dates Magnus Norman, who’s the French Open runner-up [in 2000], and by the end of the year he’s out of the top 10. He’s now retired. She dates Sergio Garcia when he was going to be Tiger Woods’ rival. He’s never won a major. And right now she’s dating Radek Stepanek, a Czech player who cracked the top 10 for the first time, and suddenly he hurts his back. He’s not in the draw.”

On CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” reporter Darren Rovell asked Maria Sharapova about her relationship with Andy Roddick, with Sharapova responding, “You really want to know that? Why would you want to know that?” Rovell: “The world wants to know.” Sharapova: “You’re not going to know. Your personal life should be discussed with your family or friends.”

During USA Network’s coverage, SI’s Wertheim talked about the reported relationship between Roddick and Sharapova under the header of “Rodapova.” Wertheim: “They deny anything other than [being] friends, but the evidence mounts to the contrary, [such as] several sightings that are awfully coincidental. But who knows.”

Posted by: Paul Sanford | Link

Honoring Billie Jean

Monday, August 28, 10:45am ET.

USTA Officially Renames National Tennis
Center In Honor Of Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King had her press conference in anticipation of the big evening festivities. The Open will spend 90 minutes feting Billie Jean this evening in the official naming of the Tennis Center after the tennis legend, and therefore there will be only one match for spectators on the main court, instead of two. That one includes Andre Agassi, and considering he is retiring after the tournament, if he loses it truly will be a historic occasion tonight.

Asked if the USTA had told her how much it had given up by not selling the naming rights, she turned to Arlen Kantarian, chief executive professional tennis, and asked if it was between $6 million and $10 million. Arlen said the number was about $6 million, and we presume that means per year.

“I want to thank the USTA for not selling a sponsorship to every single” item, she said. She also said she hoped the New York Mets would follow suit and name their new stadium after Jackie Robinson.
Of course, $6 million could buy a lot of kids tennis lessons and promote the sport in public parks, Billie Jean’s passion. Here’s hoping her name will inspire more to play tennis than the money would have.

Billie Jean also got a nice product plug in for American Express, which to the best of our knowledge she does not endorse. Talking about her love of playing tennis, she mentioned how she can barely jump anymore. In fact, her leap is so minimal, she said, she could not fit an American Express card under her foot.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

The Walk of Activation

Monday, August 28, 9:45am ET.

The best way to get into the U.S. Open from Manhattan is usually the No. 7 subway line, the one made famous by Atlanta pitcher John Rocker’s scurrilous comments years ago. That was this reporter’s mode of transport this morning, though a half-hour wait due to a sick passenger delayed the train.

Once the train arrives, it’s either left to Shea Stadium or right to the now-named USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. To get there, a wood boardwalk stretches over a Long Island railroad station and a subway depot, and this has become a big potpourri of sponsorship opportunities.

American Express, a top Open sponsor, has taken the lead over the years, with its pedicabs transporting Amex card holders from one end to the other now a staple. This year, Amex ad placards stretched the entire length of one side of the boardwalk, a first. On the buildings nearby, large ads for Amex were omnipresent. Two non-Open sponsors had ads, though there were no guerrilla tactics here. Lacoste, which has a store on site at the tennis center, though Polo is the official apparel company, displayed a large billboard featuring its endorser Andy Roddick. And “CSI: Miami” had a large sign. The show is broadcast by CBS, an Open broadcaster. At the end of the boardwalk, once you reach Corona Park, a Lexus GS450 hybrid vehicle is displayed and touted as the car being given to the men’s 2006 winner. Lexus is the official car of the open.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Prince party

Sunday, August 27, 6:40pm ET.

You have to like any party where the CEO and chairman of the board of the company hosting the shindig waits out front and greets everyone who comes in. George Napier, the down-to-earth Prince chief, did just that for his party.

Hosted on the rooftop of the swank Hudson Hotel near the Time Warner Center, this party brings together tennis pros and execs, as well as retailers from big-box shops and country club pro shops. With the Open starting the next morning, it ends earlier than most.

Napier told his guests that in three years Prince had come from being the fourth-selling racket in the U.S. to nearly the first. (Wilson is the No. 1 racket.) The company’s 03 racket is leading the sales push, and most of the company endorsers were out to pump it, including James Blake, Xavier Malisse and Shaheer Peer.

Blake, though, is still not actually playing with the racket, something of a sore point for the company. Blake signed a mega-bucks endorsement deal with the company in December, but he is still playing with his old Dunlop racket with Prince caps on the handle. One sporting goods retailer said the racket in his circles is known as a “Princelop.” No word on when Blake will begin playing with Prince.

The Tennis Channel was well represented at the party, which wouldn’t seem noteworthy except they were not allowed to go under old CEO Steve Bellamy. Bellamy did not believe in selling ads to the “endemics” of tennis like racket companies, and that has changed under new CEO Ken Solomon. Another change: This Tennis Channel CEO eagerly accepts when a server offers mini hot dogs. Bellamy was a vegan and very vocal about it. One of his ex-employees said they would often hide his bowl of beans during business meetings just as a joke.

It was a great party, but Prince could have gotten a better host, some obscure Atlanta sports radio station personality, who tried to pump up the players in appearance with weighty introductions. Many were journeymen or doubles players even some in the tennis-savvy audience had never heard of.

Why Prince did not announce it had signed Maria Sharapova to a lifetime deal at the party, instead waiting officially until the next morning, is strange, too. Sharapova was not there, but most of Prince’s key endorsers were. This reporter was not invited to the Wilson rackets party the night before, but we were told that only VIPs got to mingle with the players at that one, so kudos to Prince on its policy.

Others in attendance included Blue Equity (formerly SFX) head of tennis Ken Meyerson, who was there with his client, 18-year-old Sam Querrey, a new Prince endorser. Tom Ross, Octagon’s head of men’s tennis, was there with his crew.

We also bumped into Roger Cox, who runs a Web site called tennisresortsonline.com. Nothing big here, but he said the site is now earning money, about $45,000 this year. Nice job, Roger.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Player party

Friday, August 25, 8:30pm ET.

The combined WTA/ATP/Tennis Channel player party was a big hit, the first time the three have come together for the event. So crowded was the Chelsea night spot that the club stopped letting invited guests in around 10 after reaching its maximum 1,500-person capacity. Next door, the gentlemen’s club Scores complained about lines blocking its doors.

Getting players to these events can be tough, but Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams were there. Tennis Channel CEO Ken Solomon even stuck a Tennis Channel pin on Nadal’s lapel and took a photo with him.

Tennis was the theme everywhere — big surprise — including one model wearing a tennis ball wedding gown, tennis-themed modern art and a silver encrusted racket. Sony Ericsson, the title sponsor of the WTA, had advertisements promoting its new Walkman phone littered throughout the club — named Crobar, in case you were wondering. An AOL.com booth allowed you to photograph yourself and e-mail the picture.

The beers were provided by Singha, the Thai offering, which seemed unusual as it is not exactly the beverage of choice for the hip set, and while this reporter was there, it was a hip crowd nonetheless.

The organizers — Lizzie Grubman PR handled the event (yes, the same Grubman who gained notoriety several years ago for an SUV mishap outside a Hamptons, Long Island, club) could do a little better getting people into the party. The wait was at least half an hour, and while some had VIP access on a red carpet past a phalanx of photographers, other noteworthies did not, including Adam Silver, the NBA’s No. 2 executive. Silver did make it in, and was seen saying hello to Serena and her agent, Jill Smoller of William Morris Agency, in the wing of the club sponsored by South African Airways.

A whole crew from Adidas also waited patiently to get in, including Jim Latham, the company’s head of tennis. Well, maybe that makes sense as Adidas is suing the tennis governing bodies for their regulation limiting use of the company’s three stripes. Claus Marten, a longtime German executive with Adidas, left early, saying he was too old for these events.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Grand Central Station

Friday, August 25, 1:00pm ET.

Several years ago Tennis Magazine pulled out of its U.S. Open sponsorship and put its money into the Grand Slam event at Grand Central Station. For the day, one wing of the station is turned into a tennis festival, complete with a court and giveaways. This year Babolat, the French tennis racket maker, sponsored the event. And Eric Babolat, the company founder, even spoke to the assembled crowd along with star endorser Andy Roddick. Roddick is getting a lot of attention in New York this day, with Lexus running a full-page ad in USA Today and Lacoste a half-page ad in the New York Times, congratulating him on his win in Cincinnati the previous week.

The United States Tennis Association and Tennis Magazine have booths at the Grand Central event, hawking products and memberships. There is a nice buzz to this function, though we wonder if Tennis Magazine still wouldn’t be better off at the Tennis Center, where it would be in front of dedicated tennis fans rather than harried travelers.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Maria Sharapova Land Rover party

Thursday, August 24, 7:45pm ET.

We arrive fashionably 45 minutes late for the party. It’s the second year that Ford’s Land Rover has staged a party for its endorser at its dealership on the far west side of Manhattan.

This is no middle-of-America dealership. It’s a nine-story, elegant show room, with Jaguars and SUVs beckoning the rich, and igniting envy in the rest of us.

Sharapova is truly an event. Scores of photographers and media are out to photograph her. She showed up at about 8:10 p.m. and spent 20 minutes posing and smiling like a pro.

The invitation promised appearances by “The OC” star Mischa Barton, the current Miss America and Miss Universe, and tennis pro James Blake. We didn’t see Barton or Blake, but we did see former 1970’s supermodel Carol Alt and New York Knicks rookie Channing Frye — not together.

The doubles-playing Bryan Brothers, who have a much smaller endorsement deal with Land Rover, were also there.

After Sharapova was done with the photography on the ground level, the party moved to the roof, where a court was set up, albeit a soggy one from all the rain that day. A freight elevator took most of the guests up, but the line was too long so we ducked into the VIP elevator. A cop doing security tried to kick us off, but we talked our way in. On the way up we received a lecture on proper press credentials.

The roof was dark, loud and crowded with hundreds (a cross between invited Jaguar owners, Wall Street types and what the invite described as New York socialites). As Maria was being photographed with Miss America and Miss Universe, a thought crossed our mind: Why can’t tennis package all this glamour? It’s so often derided as a boring, country club sport, yet here were all these beautiful people (not us, of course), fancy cars, fancy drinks. We leave soon after, feeling out of place.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link

Nike Hits the Streets

Thursday, August 24, 11:10am ET.

We had high hopes when we heard Nike was staging a street tennis match between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, the sporting good giant’s top tennis spokesmen. Usually Nike just does a tennis fashion show or something at its Niketown during the pre-Open period, but this was the most audacious PR move the company has done in our recollection.

It’s reminiscent of the well-known Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi Nike ad from a decade ago in which the two played tennis in the street. So it was with high hopes that we left our office to check out the action in midtown.

On the bright side, there was a tennis court. But maybe Nike needs to get a little more sway with the city, because it only got one lane of traffic closed on 54th Street, so trucks were hurtling by the caged tennis court. Apparently at least one lane had to stay open for emergency purposes. So Rafa and Fed weren’t actually playing on the street, but on a plastic court laid on the street. We could just envision a drunk driver taking out the Open’s top seeds days before the tournament.

And while we are not trying to be picky, couldn’t Nike at least have found a better spot on the street for the court? It was placed directly in front of a store called Golfsmith. What was too bad about this was that just a block away is one of the city’s great tennis retailers, Masons Tennis Mart, which sells its share of Nike duds. Well, at least Nike is trying. And it got some good PR when Federer used the occasion to refute a comment Mary Carillo made that he had tanked a match earlier this month.

The other apparel companies active in tennis aren’t trying anything this bold. We heard Andy Roddick was signing baseball caps at the Lacoste Store on Fifth Avenue later that day, and Kim Clijsters was supposed to appear at an event at the Fila Store on Madison Avenue before she pulled out of the tournament.

The 2006 U.S. Open

Previous Entries

• End of the line

• Absent Etienne

• Courts with red carpets

• Reebok set to tout Mauresmo

• Babcock wants tours to proceed with caution

• Babcock wants tours to proceed with caution

• Does George even play tennis?

• Heard over the air

• Young, USTA coming to Bradenton, Nick says

• Sports and money just naturally go together

• I stream, you stream?

• Female reporters send protest letter

• Eat the banana

• No deal, and no desk

• Heard over the airwaves

• Late-round winners have Bollettieri smiling

• Heard over the airwaves

• Teddy loves tennis

• It’s the nature of the sport

• Feeling a little Blue

• Squatters in Armstrong Stadium

• Where’s the buzz?

• Like bees to the flower

• Unequal access

• Here’s to you ...

• Smeeton joining Agassi Enterprises

• That’s all for today, folks

• We interrupt this program ...

• When is a racket deal not a racket deal?

• Set your Tivo

• Too much of a good thing?

• USTA insurance pays off

• Asked and answered

• When it rains, the USTA is all washed up

• Let’s make a deal

• Agassi admiration society

• Heard over the air

• Imagine there’s no sports desk ...

• It’s a first. And it’s free.

• IMG’s wild-card supply diminishing

• You never know who you’ll run into

• Sprint may run its own show

• USTA may build broadcast center

• Getting outside the box

• Heard over the air

• Is tennis liberal or conservative?

• Heard over the air

• But can it wash itself?

• When we said no deal, we meant except for this one

• Heard over the airwaves

• Blake no go on the Agassi retro

• Yes, but how much did it rain at the airport?

• Adding a roof wouldn’t be easy

• Hospitality and the main event

• Blake’s Agassi ‘tribute’

• Going a little overboard

• Heard over the airwaves

• Agassi trying to lay low

• ATP Media being hatched

• Tennis’ new ‘Glam Slam’

• Heard over the airwaves

• Sony Ericsson takes over Miami event

• Heard over the airwaves

• WTA beefs up with Usana

• On the run

• Big announcement tomorrow

• Heard over the airwaves

• Honoring Billie Jean

• The Walk of Activation

• Prince party

• Player party

• Grand Central Station

• Maria Sharapova Land Rover party

• Nike Hits the Streets

Seen and Heard Around the U.S. Open: Day 12

End of the line

Friday, Sept 8, 3:54pm ET.

Posted by: Daniel Kaplan | Link