What the USTA could learn from Netflix

Comparing large-budget events from billion-dollar businesses to amateurish-looking events organized by 500-million-dollar nonprofits can be challenging. However, I believe that my approach will make sense when viewed from the perspective of growing tennis, which is of utmost importance to me.

To recap, my concern with the specific Davis Cup match was the chosen venue. It seemed illogical to hold a significant tennis match between two nations without taking into account the USTA's mission of fostering the growth of tennis. This situation represented a huge missed opportunity. I would like to highlight a quote from my article: (Note: The revised content has been formatted into paragraphs for readability.)

“Well, we unearthed another one of those USTA blunders that resulted in spending a lot of money and missing out on a beautiful chance to market tennis to a huge group of potential players: Hispanics. So, picture this: We were going to play Colombia! Do you think the powers to be at the USTA would capitalize on that very unique opportunity to grow tennis and pick Miami as the match location? I can see McNulty rolling his eyes seeing my question. "What? Is he crazy? Davis Cup is not about growing tennis in the U.S. at all. It's about winning!" I agree to a point but if you have a chance to promote tennis, you are OBLIGATED to do it as NGB. Don't you think?”

At the time, Mike McNulty served as the President of the USTA. I continued:

“Imagine what would have happened in Miami: Tens of thousands of Columbians would have wanted to buy tickets and wave their flag. What a chance to sell tennis, the USTA, the Florida section. Just before or after the Miami Open with a great, big stadium ready to play and promote tennis to an entire Hispanic population. That would have been a moneymaker for sure. Right?

Instead, they're taking the entire group of what looked like 30-40 people incl. support staff to Reno. And guess what, there is of course no tennis court inside the Reno Events Center. Similar to the San Diego debacle a few years ago, where some braindead Poobah decided on bringing Italian clay into Petco Stadium, they had to build a court inside the Events Center and laid it out with carpet. Who does that?”

Here is where the comparison to the NETFLIX SLAM event becomes relevant even though the budgets for both events were vastly different. We can analyze the two events in terms of effectively promoting an event that has the potential to significantly contribute to the growth of tennis.

LAS VEGAS: The Slam was also a “boon for the Mandalay Bay.” The venue “sold out its nearly 10,000 arena seats, with many Spanish-speaking devotees of national heroes Nadal and Alcaraz.”

RENO: The Reno Events Center appeared to have a low attendance, with only half of the seats filled. It seems that limited efforts were made to promote the Davis Cup match, particularly targeting the Hispanic residents in the area. It is worth noting that the USTA had already received financial support from the City of Reno, and winning the match was considered a highly anticipated outcome.

​LAS VEGAS: While the event aired live in the afternoon in the U.S., it was primetime in Spain. Netflix “leaned heavily into the global-facing nature of the match and held press conferences and courtside commentary in both English and Spanish”

RENO: No effort was made to engage with the Hispanic community in the local area or nationwide. Consider if USTA leadership had taken the initiative to devise strategies for promoting tennis among Hispanics. It is likely that Miami would have been identified as the ideal venue.

MY FINAL QUESTIONS: Why does our tennis governing body seem unable to think creatively? Shouldn't the promotion of tennis be a top priority for all USTA activities? Has there been any scrutiny of the decision to choose Reno? If so, is the person who questioned it still employed? I am aware that no USTA executive is permitted to comment on my articles. Will USTA leadership review my points and draw inspiration from the practices of Netflix for future events?