Fiend at Court Unplugged
In a column following the Laver Cup this year, Tennis Analyst Jon Wertheim observed that in this age if polarization, most fans consider the the exhibition to be either flawless or worthless with no middle ground. For the sake of transparency, I am firmly in the “worthless” camp, as evidenced by my pejorative use of the word “exhibition” when characterizing the event. I have always seen The Laver Cup as a big money grab to cash in on the appeal of Federer and Nadal while they are still playing. Tennis needs to be building future stars rather than clinging desperately to the waning glory days of the most marketable male players in the history of the sport.
I didn’t watch the Laver Cup this year, but that is not unusual. This year I was playing a USTA Level 1 Tournament the same weekend as the Laver Cup. In fact, playing a tournament at the historic and storied Houston Racquet Club, I would have expected the Laver Cup to be visible on at least one of the TVs scattered about the venue. My chances of inadvertently seeing at least some of the competition were theoretically high.
As it turns out, I was in no danger of accidental exposure to the Laver Cup this year. The televisions at the Houston Racquet Club were all tuned to non-tennis sporting events. On Saturday afternoon, the TV in the snack bar was tuned to the Ryder Cup. That is a particular curious fact given that Houston Racquet Club does not have a golf course. Similarly, the TV at the patio bar was tuned to a football game between Texas and Texas Tech.
It’s a bad sign for public interest in tennis and the Laver Cup in general. When a historic tennis exclusive facility doesn’t bother to tune their televisions to the Laver Cup, it makes me wonder about the television ratings and attendance at the event. There has been no public release of viewership statistics for the event this year. Ticket sales were reported to be strong, but those sales were predicated on public belief that fans would see at least one of the “Big Three.”
Wertheim observes that one of the principle benefits of the Laver Cup is that it moves around from year to year. It theoretically delivers live tennis to under-served cities, which could be useful for expanding the fan base for the sport. Along those lines, this year’s venue, Boston, was a great opportunity to generate regional fan enthusiasm for tennis. In 2022, the Laver Cup will be in London which kind of already has a significant tennis event.
Nadal and Federer have already taken to social media to tease their participation at the 2022 Laver Cup. In an Instagram post shortly after the conclusion of this year’s event, Nadal asked Federer to play doubles next year. Everybody put on your shocked face… Federer accepted. Pretty sure those guys have ways to communicate with each other directly without a public discourse on social media.
In fact, there is a carefully orchestrated campaign going on with many of the top stars of tennis signaling their intent to play the Laver Cup next year. That could be a sign that the event is under some pressure to prop-up public interest in the competition to support ticket sales for 2022.
As evidenced by this site, I am arguably a tennis super fan. If the event isn’t resonating with me, who exactly watches the Laver Cup? And… why?
- Mailbag: Three Issues the Laver Cup Needs to Address, Jon Wertheim, Sports Illustrated, September 29, 2021.
- At the Laver Cup, Europe Might Be Too Good, Christopher Clarey, The New York Times, September 27, 2021.
- Fedal to team up at Laver Cup again? Rafael Nadal teases about possible Roger Federer doubles reunion, Tennis 365, September 27, 2021.
