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 teen 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 promoting 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 plain that this Grand Slam piques the curiosity of the lots every summer season, nevertheless it’s value asking: Why the fascination over a event for a sport that (let’s be sincere) many individuals don’t take note of the remainder of the 12 months?
It’d be tough to acknowledge the U.S. Open at its inception in 1881, when it was a males’s singles and doubles event in Newport, Rhode Island, per the ATP Tour.
“The carnival-like atmosphere of the U.S. Open immediately attracts in not solely avid tennis followers, but in addition those that could not usually observe the game,” says Kendra Gage, PhD, a historian and assistant professor on the College of Nevada, Las Vegas, who makes a speciality of subjects equivalent to U.S. sports activities historical past. “Followers cheer, whistle, and enthusiastically applaud—significantly on the principle courtroom, 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 have a good time the shift for its capacity to draw new followers. The relaxed ambiance contrasts with the standard 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 below are three extra key causes the U.S. Open holds such mass enchantment.
1. The movie star facet
Regardless of the thrill of the sport itself, those that attend additionally create attract across the U.S. Open. It’s develop into a cultural occasion that draws 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, partially, as a result of the U.S. Open has develop 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 grew to become 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 shall be ,” says Cristel Russell, PhD, professor of promoting and shopper behaviors at Pepperdine Graziadio Enterprise Faculty. “Star energy helps direct followers’ consideration.”
Understanding this urge for food for movie star juice, the media’s protection of the occasion has expanded from the gamers to additionally embrace 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 facet of the Open than the precise matches,” Dr. Gage says.
Though celebrities attending the U.S. open just isn’t new, it’s gained momentum in recent times, says George Affected person, founder and editor of Merch Mates, a life-style and popular culture weblog.
That is partially as a result of high-profile alternative it provides celebrities to bolster their standing and visibility, but in addition due to its place as a networking hotspot.
“It’s a spot the place the leisure, trend, and enterprise worlds intersect, creating alternatives for collaborations and endorsements,” Affected person says.
Main names noticed on the 2023 U.S. Open embrace former president Barack Obama and former first girl 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 provides alternatives for individuals to tune in and watch one thing dwell that they will focus on with their household and pals in particular person 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 prospect to expertise dwell occasions just like the U.S. Open in actual time—and that does not imply simply the matches.
“Stay sports activities occasions generate buzz and togetherness,” Dr. Russell says. “The U.S. Open provides seldom-available alternatives for individuals to tune in and watch one thing dwell that they will focus on with their household and pals in particular person 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 at all times related to tennis.
“Social media has positively performed probably the most important function in producing a more moderen fan base for the U.S. Open,” Dr. Gage says. “They acknowledge the facility 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 courtroom 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 track “Barbie World.”
“A number of of the youthful gamers, like Coco Gauff, Carlos Alcaraz, and Ben Shelton, have important followings on their social media platforms and are inspiring the subsequent technology to not solely watch tennis however to play the game as nicely,” 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 fascinated about studying extra about sports activities—particularly when social media performs a major function.
“Photos from the event 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 eager to miss out on what has develop into a significant 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 Girls’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 planet 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 significant stride for broadcast parity. And Gauff’s victory in 2023 attracted over one million extra viewers than the boys’s last match, producing much more pleasure round girls’s tennis and girls’s sports activities generally.
That stated, the U.S. Open’s impression goes past girls’s sports activities. Many different celebrations, for social and cultural actions past tennis, happen on the event.
Throughout final 12 months’s Open, festivities for the LGBTQ+ group and Traditionally Black Faculties and Universities befell, the third time these occasions have been celebrated on the U.S. Open, reviews The New York Occasions.
“Many sports activities leagues have realized that the twenty first century and its slew of social actions requires that they handle 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 prompted a 45-minute delay throughout Gauff’s semifinal towards Karolína Muchová. Protestors have been escorted out of the stadium and the match continued.
“In an age of on-demand every 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 taking part in tennis to 35 million in the US by 2035, they usually wish to give attention to reaching a extra numerous group of gamers.
“Their initiative promotes fairness and variety throughout the tennis group and is concentrated on making certain 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 individuals 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 herald pleasure, viewers, and social media posts when the event begins August 26.
“It is going to provide seldom-available alternatives for individuals to tune in and watch one thing dwell that they will focus on with their household and pals in particular person or on social media,” Dr. Russell says. “In an age of on-demand every thing, dwell occasions have gotten rarer and rarer—and but, individuals lengthy for one thing to speak about that’s unfolding in entrance of their eyes.”
