SBJ Unpacks: COVID Mitigation Surrounds French Open Start

Tonight in SBJ Unpacks: Qualifying for the French Open gets underway at Roland-Garros, which plans to welcome 5,000 fans per day.

Also:

• Upstart tennis group faces key challenges
• Raiders set for Las Vegas debut on "MNF"
• Sources say Call of Duty League moving to bubble for 2021
• Bundesliga welcomes back fans as new season starts
• Why the demand for live sports is as strong as ever

FRENCH OPEN PREPARED TO WELCOME FANS

• Normally held in late May, Roland-Garros began today with the first rounds of French Open men’s and women’s qualifiers. The French Tennis Federation (FFT) made the move to late September unilaterally, initially receiving criticism from across the sport, though it’s now accepted that the Grand Slam is providing a valuable opportunity for lower-ranked players to earn sizable pay checks following pro tennis’ five-month-plus suspension, writes SBJ's Bret McCormick.
  
  
• Over 250 players will get the chance to earn at least $52,000 by winning the three qualifying matches needed to reach the Roland-Garros main draw, which they didn’t get at the U.S. Open due to COVID mitigation efforts that limited the number of people allowed on-site.
  
  
• COVID mitigation has been a topic of hot debate around Roland-Garros, which is also planning on welcoming 5,000 fans per day to the tournament, in spite of France leading Europe’s recent coronavirus surge. Five-thousand fans daily is a major reduction from the 50-60% capacity that organizers had originally hoped for. Five players were pulled out of Roland-Garros qualifying on Sunday due to positive COVID tests or proximity to others that tested positive. Roland-Garros in a statement this afternoon also said a female qualifier has tested postive.
  
  
• Every effort to hold the tournament was going to be made this year given the FFT’s major infrastructure projects of the last few years and the reported $414 million expense. One of those projects, the retractable roof over Philippe Chatrier Court, is debuting this year, two years after a major rebuild of the tournament’s main stadium court began. Roland-Garros also added floodlights on 12 courts for the first time this year, enabling play to continue past sunset. 

UPSTART TENNIS GROUP FACES KEY CHALLENGES

• The launch of the Professional Tennis Players Association on the eve of the U.S. Open caught many in the sport by surprise, reports SBJ's Bret McCormick. 
  
  
• The PTPA, led by world No. 1-ranked player Novak Djokovic and Canadian pro Vasek Pospisil, says it wants to give ATP Tour players a stronger voice. The timing of the announcement -- during a pandemic that has ravaged pro tennis just as the sport was beginning to get back on its feet -- was questioned by some tennis stakeholders.  
  
  
• Players had complained about a lack of communication from the ATP during the five-month coronavirus tour suspension and about executives not taking pay cuts while players were unable to earn money. But Pospisil told SBJ that the primary reason for starting the PTPA now “is to do what players have been trying to do for 30 years, which is have a voice and an association that is players only, that looks out for the players’ interest.” 
  
  
• The ATP’s operating structure consists of a board made up of three representatives from the tournament side and three from the players’ side (who are selected by the Player Council), a partnership intended to collaborate for the good of the tour. But in recent years, votes on key decisions, most often involving prize money, have ended in 3-3 stalemates, each side voting for its own interests with the chairman, now Andrea Gaudenzi, having to cast the deciding vote and alienating one side or the other.

RAIDERS SET FOR LAS VEGAS DEBUT ON "MNF"

• The Raiders are set to host their first game inside Allegiant Stadium when they take on the Saints tonight, which also marks the 50th anniversary -- to the day -- of “MNF.” To celebrate that last fact, the game "will be simulcast on ABC" starting at 5:00pm PT, marking the TV institution’s "return to its original home for the first time" since 2005, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
  
  

• As a result of COVID-19 safety protocols, "not only are fans not allowed inside Allegiant Stadium, the announcers can’t make their traditional on-field appearance to touch base with the players and coaches." Sideline reporter Lisa Salters "isn’t even allowed on the sidelines." Several segments of tonight's broadcast "will be dedicated to showcasing" Allegiant Stadium's "various features."

  The Raiders’ arrival in Las Vegas is "more than just a new flag planted on the NFL’s intercontinental map marking where games have been played." It is also "more than the unveiling of the gleaming new, $2 billion stadium." It is the "physical manifestation of a long, slow embrace between the country’s biggest sports league and legal sports wagering that is a stone’s throw from the Las Vegas Strip," per the N.Y. Times.

SOURCES: CALL OF DUTY LEAGUE MOVING 2021 SEASON TO "BUBBLE"

• Activision Blizzard, the video game publisher behind the professional Call of Duty League, has asked owners to consider having the 2021 season played from a central location in a bubble-type environment, according to sources cited by The Esports Observer's Kevin Hitt.
  
  
• This would require all of the league's teams to relocate for the upcoming season in order to compete. The two cities being mentioned are Las Vegas and Dallas.
  
  
• While this suggestion from Activision was not the only proposal under consideration, there were varied discussions among the owners on the possibility and probability of this particular scenario being realized. While some owners were in favor of the suggestion, others shared their concerns surrounding contract provisions possibly being in contradiction with the move.

BUNDESLIGA WELCOMES BACK FANS AS NEW SEASON GETS UNDERWAY

• The Bundesliga welcomed back fans this weekend, with six out of the nine host teams allowing supporters on the first matchday of the season "ranging from 4,600 to 9,300, filling 10 to 25% of the stadium seats," per the BBC. Permission was "granted by the local health offices that have managed the pandemic."
  
  
• Some 9,300 fans were allowed at the game in Dortmund’s Wesfalenstadion, making it the best-attended game. Eintracht Frankfurt hosted Arminia on Saturday in front of 6,500 fans -- or about 13% of the stadium’s capacity -- all "spread out with three seats between" them.

OUTSIDE CONTRIBUTORS: DEMAND FOR LIVE SPORTS STRONG AS EVER

• Tonight's op-ed contribution is from Robert Szabo-Rowe, a senior VP at N.Y.-based production company The Switch. He writes under the header, "Cloud Production Answers The Call For More Live Sports Content."
  
  
• "Demand for live sports content shows no signs of waning, and it’s stretching broadcasters and other rights holders to their limits. Indeed, global TV rights are projected to grow to $85 billion by 2024 -- a rise of 75% over six years. What’s more, in a world with five billion YouTube videos watched every day, two-thirds of 18- to 34-year-olds now streaming live programming and 100 million viewers tuning into big-ticket events such as Super Bowl LIV, the needs of producers of live sports are only getting more complicated."
  
  
• To read the full contribution, click here.

SPEED READS

• The NHL’s clean slate of COVID-19 testing has continued for another week as the league released its latest numbers today, writes SBJ’s Mark J. Burns. From Sept. 13-19, the NHL administered 1,127 tests without a single positive test, keeping its blemish-free streak intact since all 24 teams first arrived in Edmonton and Toronto in late July. Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final is tonight between the Lightning and Stars, who have a 1-0 series lead. 
  
  

• Art of Sport, a personal health care company co-founded by Kobe Bryant, "raised $6 million in a Series A funding round from investors," including Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. The round was led by investment firm CircleUp Growth Partners. Other investors in Art of Sport include Nets forward Wilson Chandler, Rockets guard James Harden and Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.
  
  

• Yahoo Sports today launched "Voting Playbook presented by Yahoo Sports," a voter-registration initiative utilizing an interactive map of the U.S. that features athlete- and coach-hosted instructional videos on the complete voting process in each state, per SBJ's Andrew Levin. The project includes 51 instructional videos (50 states and DC) with 46 unique hosts. Hosts are a mix of current and retired athletes and coaches, including Seattle Storm F Breanna Stewart, Ravens DE Calais Campbell, Dodgers P David Price and Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self, among others.
  
  

• The Toronto Star's Damien Cox writes under the header, "U.S. Open Champion Bryson DeChambeau Could Be The Future Of Golf." Cox: "Welcome to golf’s revolution. Your host is Bryson DeChambeau, and he is taking this sport places it has not gone before while validating his personal theories on the game. Daring to be different -- much, much different -- has paid off. Part mathematician, part weightlifter, the bulked up 27-year-old perfectionist captured the U.S. Open by six strokes on Sunday, setting new standards along the way that the rest of the professional industry may have no choice but to copy."

NEWS YOU NEED FROM SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY

• During this crisis impacting the sports business, we want everyone to be up-to-date on the latest news and information. Select stories from Sports Business Daily are free, outside the paywall, for the foreseeable future. Below are today's headlines:
  
  
  • NFL To Look At MetLife Stadium Field After 49ers Injuries
  • Some Cowboys Fans Don't Comply With Safety Protocols
  • MLB, MLBPA Pledge $10M To Players Alliance For Diversity Efforts

SBJ UNPACKS -- THE ROAD AHEAD

• Check out the most recent editions of our SBJ Unpacks podcasts:
  
  
  • Dan Mannix on how CSM has navigated the pandemic, his decision to step down from his full-time role as the agency's CEO and more.
    
    
  • Pro Football HOF President David Baker on the dedication of Centennial Village as part of the NFL celebrating its 100th birthday.
    
    
  • USGA Chief Brand Officer Craig Annis breaks down this week’s U.S. Open.
      
    

--- AXS SPORTS FACILITIES & FRANCHISES & TICKETING SYMPOSIUM ---

Sept. 22-23, 2020

Virtual Program

Announcing the 2020 AXS Sports Facilities & Franchises & Ticketing Symposium agenda.  To view the agenda or to learn more, visit www.SportsFacilitiesandFranchises.com.

Something related to coronavirus and sports business catch your eye? Tell us about it. Reach out to Austin Karp (akarp@sportsbusinessjournal.com) and we'll share the best of it.