Every 12 months, the U.S. Open Tennis Championships sparks a frenzy that goes past its sport. We tune into matches, watch the stands intently, and get impressed to enroll in tennis classes—even when we have by no means swung a racket earlier than. And it isn’t simply us.
The U.S. Open’s reputation was by no means extra obvious than final 12 months, when Coco Gauff’s win—the primary by a youngster to in additional than 20 years—attracted practically 3.4 million viewers, making it the the most-viewed girls’s last of any tennis main broadcasted on ESPN. That match pushed viewership on the community up 92 % from the earlier 12 months’s championship.
Specialists In This Article
- Cristel Russell, PhD, professor of selling and shopper behaviors at Pepperdine Graziadio Enterprise Faculty
- George Affected person, founder and editor of Merch Mates, a life-style and popular culture weblog
- Kendra Gage, PhD, a historian and assistant professor on the College of Nevada, Las Vegas
- Patrick Stephenson, a sports activities author, skilled golfer, and former aggressive tennis participant
It’s simple that this Grand Slam piques the curiosity of the lots every summer season, however it’s price asking: Why the fascination over a match for a sport that (let’s be sincere) many individuals don’t take note of the remainder of the 12 months?
It’d be troublesome to acknowledge the U.S. Open at its inception in 1881, when it was a males’s singles and doubles match in Newport, Rhode Island, per the ATP Tour.
“The carnival-like atmosphere of the U.S. Open at the moment attracts in not solely avid tennis followers, but in addition those that could not usually comply with the game,” says Kendra Gage, PhD, a historian and assistant professor on the College of Nevada, Las Vegas, who focuses on matters akin to U.S. sports activities historical past. “Followers cheer, whistle, and enthusiastically applaud—significantly on the primary court docket, Arthur Ashe Stadium, which has earned a repute for being the ‘loudest’ stadium within the sport.”
Whereas some gamers and ardent tennis followers chastise this lack of conventional tennis etiquette, others rejoice the shift for its capacity to draw new followers. The relaxed environment contrasts with the everyday tennis decorum in different main tournaments, making the U.S. Open really feel extra accessible and entertaining to a bigger viewers, Dr. Gage provides.
However this sensation goes past cheering crowds. Listed here are three extra key causes the U.S. Open holds such mass enchantment.
1. The celeb facet
Regardless of the thrill of the sport itself, those that attend additionally create attract across the U.S. Open. It’s turn into a cultural occasion that pulls celebrities and, in flip, viewers who hope to see their favourite stars within the stands.
“The presence of celebrities on the matches has led to a major improve in viewers who wouldn’t ordinarily watch tennis,” Dr. Gage says. “That is, partly, as a result of the U.S. Open has turn into a extremely sought-after ticket by celebrities who view their attendance as an necessary standing image.”
Cameras on the occasion attempt to seize viral moments, like when Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake danced to Beyoncé’s “Single Women” in 2015. Equally, Meryl Streep’s dramatic reactions turned a meme of their very own in the course of the 2018 video games—and Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet’s PDA made headlines in 2023.
“It would not matter the place the celebrities are or what they’re watching, their followers will likely be ,” says Cristel Russell, PhD, professor of selling and shopper behaviors at Pepperdine Graziadio Enterprise Faculty. “Star energy helps direct followers’ consideration.”
Realizing this urge for food for celeb juice, the media’s protection of the occasion has expanded from the gamers to additionally embody well-known individuals in attendance, who they got here with, and what they wore to the occasion.
“This has created a brand new fan base that’s extra invested within the leisure aspect of the Open than the precise matches,” Dr. Gage says.
Though celebrities attending the U.S. open is just not new, it’s gained momentum lately, says George Affected person, founder and editor of Merch Mates, a life-style and popular culture weblog.
That is partly as a result of high-profile alternative it presents celebrities to strengthen their standing and visibility, but in addition due to its place as a networking hotspot.
“It’s a spot the place the leisure, vogue, and enterprise worlds intersect, creating alternatives for collaborations and endorsements,” Affected person says.
Main names noticed on the 2023 U.S. Open embody former president Barack Obama and former first woman Michelle Obama, Gayle King, Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman, Mindy Kaling, Matthew McConaughey, Justin Timberlake, Lil Wayne, and Martha Stewart, per City & Nation.
“The U.S. Open presents alternatives for individuals to tune in and watch one thing stay that they will focus on with their household and mates in individual or on social media.”—Cristel Russell, PhD
2. The social media affect
Even when spectators aren’t within the stands themselves, social media provides them the possibility to expertise stay occasions just like the U.S. Open in actual time—and that does not imply simply the matches.
“Reside sports activities occasions generate buzz and togetherness,” Dr. Russell says. “The U.S. Open presents seldom-available alternatives for individuals to tune in and watch one thing stay that they will focus on with their household and mates in individual or on social media.”
The U.S. Open official TikTok account (which has 1.6 million followers) focuses not solely on key moments in the course of the matches, but in addition on the celebs current, making a light-hearted, enjoyable tradition for the Open that is not all the time related to tennis.
“Social media has undoubtedly performed essentially the most vital position in producing a more recent fan base for the U.S. Open,” Dr. Gage says. “They acknowledge the ability of social media influencers and opened an influencer suite in 2022.”
These influencers cowl their experiences, the meals they eat, promoting manufacturers, and celebrities they see. What’s taking place on the court docket is commonly second-tier content material.
The gamers themselves get in on the social media buzz, too. Gauff used her personal account to create a TikTok video with the caption “this barbie is the us open champion 💞,” accompanied by the favored Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice tune “Barbie World.”
“A number of of the youthful gamers, like Coco Gauff, Carlos Alcaraz, and Ben Shelton, have vital followings on their social media platforms and are inspiring the subsequent era to not solely watch tennis however to play the game as effectively,” Dr. Gage says.
Patrick Stephenson, a sports activities author, professional golfer, and former aggressive tennis participant, says main occasions just like the U.S. Open get readers all in favour of studying extra about sports activities—particularly when social media performs a major position.
“Footage from the match proliferate social media, normalizing tennis as a leisure or observational pastime, even for non-players,” Stephenson says.
After all, all of this social media buzz performs into that oh-so-common concern of lacking out, too.
“The glamorous portrayal of the U.S. Open on social media creates a way of FOMO,” Affected person says. “Seeing celebrities having fun with the occasion compels many to tune in, not desirous to miss out on what has turn into a serious cultural taking place.”
3. The impact on different social points
The U.S. Open has a singular place in girls’s sports activities due to the efforts of the Ladies’s Tennis Affiliation. The affiliation was based in 1973 by Billie Jean King, who pushed for the U.S. Open to be the primary sporting occasion on the earth to supply equal prize cash for each women and men, Dr. Gage says.
In 2001, the U.S. Open made historical past once more by scheduling its first last match for prime-time community tv, which led to the historic protection of the match between sisters Venus and Serena Williams—a serious stride for broadcast parity. And Gauff’s victory in 2023 attracted over 1,000,000 extra viewers than the boys’s last match, producing much more pleasure round girls’s tennis and girls’s sports activities on the whole.
That stated, the U.S. Open’s influence goes past girls’s sports activities. Many different celebrations, for social and cultural actions past tennis, happen on the match.
Throughout final 12 months’s Open, festivities for the LGBTQ+ group and Traditionally Black Faculties and Universities came about, the third time these occasions had been celebrated on the U.S. Open, experiences The New York Instances.
“Many sports activities leagues have realized that the twenty first century and its slew of social actions requires that they tackle range—or lack thereof,” Dr. Russell says.
It additionally attracts these wanting a extremely seen platform to talk out about sure points: In 2023, local weather protestors brought about a 45-minute delay throughout Gauff’s semifinal towards Karolína Muchová. Protestors had been escorted out of the stadium and the match continued.
“In an age of on-demand every little thing, individuals lengthy for one thing to speak about that’s unfolding in entrance of their eyes.”—Dr. Russell
The way forward for tennis within the U.S.
The U.S. Tennis Affiliation has developed a development technique to extend the variety of individuals enjoying tennis to 35 million in the USA by 2035, and so they wish to deal with reaching a extra various group of gamers.
“Their initiative promotes fairness and variety inside the tennis group and is concentrated on guaranteeing the long-term sustainability and development of the game by tapping right into a wider expertise pool,” Dr. Gage says.
The pandemic could have given this initiative a lift: Some analysis suggests the pandemic led to the expansion of the game, as a result of it was one of many few sports activities that folks might nonetheless take part in whereas social distancing, Dr. Gage provides.
Pickleball and badminton are additionally on the rise, making 2024 seemingly 12 months of the racket. It’s anticipated that the U.S. Open will proceed to usher in pleasure, viewers, and social media posts when the match begins August 26.
“It’s going to provide seldom-available alternatives for individuals to tune in and watch one thing stay that they will focus on with their household and mates in individual or on social media,” Dr. Russell says. “In an age of on-demand every little thing, stay occasions have gotten rarer and rarer—and but, individuals lengthy for one thing to speak about that’s unfolding in entrance of their eyes.”
