The Octagon-owned WTA Top Seed Open begins Monday in Lexington, Ky., and on the latest episode of "SBJ Unpacks: The Road Ahead," Octagon Senior VP/Tennis Alastair Garland joined our Bret McCormick to talk about the tournament and a range of other topics stemming from an incredibly chaotic year in professional tennis.
On the international nature of tennis with the pandemic affecting the globe and whether there could be a point where pro tennis would shut down for the year:
Garland: That’s why tennis is maybe at a disadvantage relative to a lot of other sports is that you’ve got athletes from all over the world and you’ve got events that you’re hosting all over the world. It’s very difficult to create a ‘bubble’ and an environment that is safe for players and athletes and staff to compete in. But absolutely one of the options discussed was whether it was just better off for everybody to close up shop for 2020 and start in 2021 and the overriding principle is, ‘Can you create an environment that is safe for athletes in tennis to compete and safe for staff and tournament promoters to be a part of?’ If the answer to that is yes, then you go ahead.
On Octagon moving the Citi Open from DC to the Top Seed Tennis Club in Kentucky:
Garland: Running an event in the best of times is always a challenge. Running an event during a pandemic is incredibly difficult and there are so many obstacles, logistical challenges, health and safety challenges you’ve got to overcome, and Washington I know was working hard to overcome all of those challenges and as the deadline to enter the event was fast approaching, another opportunity came up in Lexington that was ready to go. We made a decision -- Octagon along with the WTA -- to say, ‘Well, given that we still don’t have certainty in Washington, D.C., we owe it to the Tour and we owe it to the players to have an answer.’ I think we ended up with the right outcome.
On how financial impacts in the future could affect the sport:
Garland: This isn’t something that is a six month or yearlong issue. This is something where the changes as a result of this are going to have repercussions for several years to come. But in many ways I think that can be a positive and I know that the appetite and the fan desire to have pro sports back is high and while there will be certain challenges as it relates to sponsorship and fans as far as actually coming to the actual live event. … But as far as the TV interest, the interest in other revenue buckets such as data, that’s strong and once we figure out how to create a safe environment I think that we’ll find that the appetite is bigger than it’s ever been to consume pro sports.
