In case you were wondering whether Raducanu or Djokovic was the bigger US Open story...
- Thread starter weakera
- Start date
Lack of top level American men tennis players has affected men's tennis popularity (and also tennis) in last decade in US imo. I am hoping that the next gen American players like Brooksby, Korda can compete at the top in future. US sports market has already been extremely saturated with 4 team sports (+ European soccer). So, for individual sports to continually thrive, it's always important to have some local American stars (outside likes of Federer, Nadal etc). WTA has always had atleast couple of American players competing at the top which hasn't been the case for ATP in last decade.
TopspintheTerrible
Hall of Fame
For sure. But the time difference drastically affects viewership numbers in the States.
ForehandCross
G.O.A.T.
If I am not wrong, Murray's 2012 WB final peaked at 20 million viewers in UK.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
I mean I’m not surprised since it would be box office time slot plus the hype was well known where as Raducanu came from nowhere.
This doesn't involve Amazon Prime viewership who is the main broadcaster in UK...this is only Channel4 viewership which only obtained rights of final on morning of the final. Apparently, they paid some 7 figure amount to Prime to broadcast the final alongside them. So, actually viewership is likely higher than this
Djokodal Fan
Hall of Fame
Rosstour
G.O.A.T.
Uh, what?
The big complaint about the women's tour is that the players aren't consistent.
NoleFam
Bionic Poster
Djokovic had the 3 highest rated matches in the US before the final which included his match with Berrettini and the one with Zverev, which was over 1.7 million which is a big number for a SF when neither were American. He went up against the NFL on Sunday, the most popular sport in the US, which is the only reason the women's final was rated higher, but nevertheless, that is still good news for the WTA to pull great viewership.
Djokovic’s Penultimate Step to the Grand Slam: US Open Men’s Semifinals on ESPN on Friday at 3 p.m. ET, 7 p.m.
Twenty-six down, two to go. That’s where Novak Djokovic stands in his march to a record-breaking 21st Major title and the first men’s Grand Slam in 52 years (Rod Laver, 1969). After seven wins apiece at the year’s first three Majors and five in New York, his next hurdle is the US Open Men’s...
espnpressroom.com
Yet, USO 2021 has been taken away from him by Medvedev and Raducanu
NoleFam
Bionic Poster
Harry_Wild
G.O.A.T.
Trying to say indirectly that WTA has no appeal/viewership until 2021 The U.S. Open.
That doesn't make much sense because even in last few years, Women's finals, SFs have had better ratings than Men's Finals, SFs atleast in US market.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
2.4 million for the women's final is far bigger than 1.7 million for the men's SF, no? Especially for a Saturday night and up against College Football which is huge in the States. Or do you have more excuses to downplay the results? Everyone stays in on a Sunday while Saturday is usually the going out night as well and yet the women's USO final (which had no Americans (thought i'd point that out since you did for the men's SF)) smashed the men's SF and also the men's final.Djokovic had the 3 highest rated matches in the US before the final which included his match with Berrettini and the one with Zverev, which was over 1.7 million which is a big number for a SF when neither were American. He went up against the NFL on Sunday, the most popular sport in the US, which is the only reason the women's final was rated higher, but nevertheless, that is still good news for the WTA to pull great viewership.
Djokovic’s Penultimate Step to the Grand Slam: US Open Men’s Semifinals on ESPN on Friday at 3 p.m. ET, 7 p.m.
Twenty-six down, two to go. That’s where Novak Djokovic stands in his march to a record-breaking 21st Major title and the first men’s Grand Slam in 52 years (Rod Laver, 1969). After seven wins apiece at the year’s first three Majors and five in New York, his next hurdle is the US Open Men’s...espnpressroom.com
Funny hey.
Genious at Work
G.O.A.T.
I'm sorry to tell you, mate. But everywhere outside of China and Japan Nadal is way more popular than Djokovic. In the US there is no contest.Nadal ?? Seriously haha
Comparing Federer with Nadal in terms of popularity ?? Lol
Federer is 10 tiers ahead of other tennis player in terms of popularity .....
Even , Djokovic makes more money than Nadal via endorsements always . Hahaha
And Federer makes the most via Endorsement .
You Hateful comments towards Djokovic proves that it was a Good Job by Djoker to stop Nadal at RG , Djokovic made sure Federer will always be ahead of Nadal if both end at 20 slams ..
Use this as a popularity check at Arthur Ashe.
NoleFam
Bionic Poster
The only USO SF's in recent years that have reached 1.7 million or greater was Serena in 2018 and 2019, and Venus/Stephens in 2017, all Americans. No men's SF in the last 6 years has reached that. Trying to compare a SF and F on equal terms is ridiculous when the final almost always has higher ratings. Also, your reasoning that people stay in on Sunday and not Saturday is also ridiculous, considering Serena always gets higher ratings than men's finals when her matches are on a Saturday no matter if it's the big 3 or not, mainly because she draws more interest in America. Djokovic overall drew the most interest in America over the entire tournament, and it's not an excuse that his match clashed with the NFL and instead a fact.
Dolgopolov85
G.O.A.T.
It is hardly a failure of the men's game that it is European. It is simply less convenient to market in Europe with languages differing from nation to nation. For marketers, a native English speaker is perfect. But that reflects not on the health of the sport but on how the game as an entertainment package is sold.
Dolgopolov85
G.O.A.T.
The women's game has more stories. The men's game hasn't had a new story since Big Four. As simple as that. People can debate 'quality' till the cows come home but viewers want to be surprised at least once in a while.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
Tshooter
G.O.A.T.
Possibly more valuable TV draw in the US for certain years for the semis/finals assuming revenue is based strictly on eyeballs.
Historically broadcast revenue is about the same percent of total USO revenue as ticket sales, approximately 35%. A cursory review of the primary and secondary ticket markets show significantly higher ticket prices and demand for men’s semis and finals than women’s, year after year — maybe all except 2001 women’s final. Without digging into all the revenue numbers in detail you can’t reliably reach conclusions about the relative value of each tour to the USO bottom line. In any case, it’s a combined event with equal pay.
I’m not surprised these two women outdrew Djoker and Meds for casual fans tuning in for some portion of the match on TV. The serious tennis fan would be interested in the CYGS. The casual fan doesn’t know what it is and doesn’t know who Meds is either. These two women were an easier sell. But on TV not at the box office.
Historically broadcast revenue is about the same percent of total USO revenue as ticket sales, approximately 35%. A cursory review of the primary and secondary ticket markets show significantly higher ticket prices and demand for men’s semis and finals than women’s, year after year — maybe all except 2001 women’s final. Without digging into all the revenue numbers in detail you can’t reliably reach conclusions about the relative value of each tour to the USO bottom line. In any case, it’s a combined event with equal pay.
I’m not surprised these two women outdrew Djoker and Meds for casual fans tuning in for some portion of the match on TV. The serious tennis fan would be interested in the CYGS. The casual fan doesn’t know what it is and doesn’t know who Meds is either. These two women were an easier sell. But on TV not at the box office.
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D
Deleted member 771911
Guest
The evidence is real.
zagor
Bionic Poster
If they draw more money/ratings, it'd be fine by me.
zagor
Bionic Poster
Kinda, yeah. Imagine for example if the only star in NBA was 30 something Lebron. Old farts winning everything in sight is not good for the game, regardless of whether you're a fan or not.
celito
Professional
That was obviously going to draw a **** load of viewers.
But yeah, congrats on the WTA final toping the ATP in the US. The women's final obviously had a pretty compelling story to sell. But had the other two semi-finalists won, I bet the ratings would have probably been much lower in the US.
ScentOfDefeat
G.O.A.T.
I'd be careful analysing this as a net positive from a feminist perspective.
It seems quite obvious that, despite both finalists playing an excellent and surprising tournament, the fact a lot more people than usual watched this final may have more to do with the way two attractive, Western and multiethnic young women are sold/presented in the media and consumed by male viewership, than (primarily) with any sudden perceived excellence of the women's game.
Unfortunately, if the "story" was a 19 year-old unseeded Sakkari against an 18 year-old unseeded Sabalenka, I doubt we would see these numbers.
It seems quite obvious that, despite both finalists playing an excellent and surprising tournament, the fact a lot more people than usual watched this final may have more to do with the way two attractive, Western and multiethnic young women are sold/presented in the media and consumed by male viewership, than (primarily) with any sudden perceived excellence of the women's game.
Unfortunately, if the "story" was a 19 year-old unseeded Sakkari against an 18 year-old unseeded Sabalenka, I doubt we would see these numbers.
celito
Professional
Why should they ? If when they drew less they got paid the same.
celito
Professional
It's a disingenuous comment to say "two women outside the top 70" when there was a very compelling story to be sold there.
Sunny014
Legend
If it was Federer in place of Novak I am sure he would have beaten Raducanu
Thats why Federer is still the GOAT even today and shall continue to be even if Novak sneaks up on him in stats next year
Brand Value is very important, you cannot be number 1 and chasing records without any hype/iconic status/stardom, thats means these records are not of much use.
Thats why Federer is still the GOAT even today and shall continue to be even if Novak sneaks up on him in stats next year
Brand Value is very important, you cannot be number 1 and chasing records without any hype/iconic status/stardom, thats means these records are not of much use.
celito
Professional
In comparison when Andy Murray played in Wimbledon Final in 2013, it hit 17 million viewers in the UK . Yes, 17 million ....
zvelf
Hall of Fame
I am happy to see women's tennis being as popular as the men's, or even more so. That said, this last semifinals comparison by Rothenberg is not meaningful. How can you compare a 7:00 p.m. time slot to a 4:00 p.m. time slot? Most people are still at work at 4:00. Most people are at home at 7:00.
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Dolgopolov85
G.O.A.T.
Would be interesting to see what were the ratings for the RG 2021 women's final. It was a very good match but I wonder how many watched it, given who were there (or rather, who weren't).
celito
Professional
In the US ...
"Barbora Krejcikova-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova women’s final averaged just 954,000 on NBC Saturday morning — up 25% from an all-time low of 763,000 for Iga Świątek-Sofia Kenin last October, but down 8% from Ashleigh Barty-Markéta Vondroušová in ’19."
The men's final was about double that ...
"Sunday’s Novak Djokovic-Stefanos Tsitsipas French Open men’s final averaged 1.9 million viewers on NBC, up 19% from last year’s months-delayed October final (Rafael Nadal-Djokovic: 1.58M) and up 6% from the last time the final aired as scheduled in 2019 (Nadal-Dominic Thiem: 1.79M)."
fishpiefriday
Semi-Pro
Yeah, I agree with this. Djokovic has been there and done it. Casual viewers and non-tennis fans won't be as aware of the significance of what Djokovic was going for. Whereas two teenagers making the final, one of them a qualifier, is a big story the media can latch on to and generate interest. Either way, it was the best slam of the year and I adored every second of it.
Permitlady
Professional
Out with the old. In with the new.
Dolgopolov85
G.O.A.T.
Right. So take Fernandez -Raducanu out and make it a Sakkari -Sabalenka final and ratings would dip way down. Funny how parochial is this 'global village' - I mean it's not like tennis players have to recite lines in English. And Sabalenka /Sakkari speak English well enough.
Aabye5
G.O.A.T.
There is also the time difference. I wonder if Sabalenka/Sakkari final would get a lot more viewers at the AO.
Dolgopolov85
G.O.A.T.
Possibly but US has the biggest audience of a single market so it disproportionately affects who gets to be more popular. Only absolutely transcendental European stars like Borg, Graf, Federer or Nadal get popular in the US.
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