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Image Is Still Everything: Agassi Talks Vegas Sports, Kaepernick Ad

Agassi doesn't know if he will buy Raiders tickets when they are in Vegas, as he's never gone to an NFL gameGETTY IMAGES

ANDRE AGASSI was at the U.S. Open yesterday to make appearances on behalf of Italian coffee brand Lavazza, which he endorses. THE DAILY caught up with him for a few minutes in the Lavazza suite in Arthur Ashe Stadium to talk Nike, his hometown Las Vegas and why he apparently will not be buying Raiders season tickets.

Q: What do you think of the Golden Knights and, soon, the Raiders, calling Vegas home?
Agassi: Vegas has changed since I was born in the early ‘70s. It's grown. This is just another season in its evolution that is so exciting for those that have lived there. It has added a great deal to the community. We are becoming a real world stage, and it’s a lot of fun.

Q: Will you buy Raiders season tickets?
Agassi: I don’t know, I have never been to an NFL game.

Q: Really?
Agassi: Never. I have never been. I have had some invites over the years but it’s never quite (happened). I have always lived life -- more than 60,000 people go somewhere, stay away.

Q: What about the Golden Knights, that’s less than 60,000?
Agassi: It is, it is. I have been to the Knights. I love watching hockey live.

Q: You are a Nike athlete. What are your thoughts on Nike’s COLIN KAEPERNICK deal?
Agassi: It is hard to have too many specific thoughts. I mean if I am Kaepernick, I understand why you are thrilled to be with Nike, because I am thrilled to be with Nike. If I am Nike, I am not in those boardrooms and I don’t quite understand what their end game is, what their thought process is, what their reason behind it is. It is a great company that has built themselves over multiple decades, in some cases doing it controversially, and in other cases doing it very responsibly. So, to sort of judge the rhyme or reason is a bit difficult from the outside.

Q: In your case, controversy often sold. Do you think that is the idea here?
Agassi: Assuming that is speculation. I mean who knows. They could be making a social stance, I don’t know what they are. You would imagine a company is thinking about business.

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