Tiafoe: fans should be able to come & go & move around & speak during matches. let's start changing things to bring younger fans to the game”

JustMy2Cents said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1638761563241975809
www.forbes.com

Frances Tiafoe Aims To Entertain, Bringing Basketball Culture To Tennis

The happy resonates with fans, with Tiafoe's game and his ability to land new sponsorship deals.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com

I think the high ticket prices are keeping young fans out.
They can and do shout after rallies. Current culture seems fine to me
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Well the high ticket prices are even keeping middle aged people like me out ;)

Tennis is just too expensive to watch live for the average middle-class and I don't see that changing.
 

Tiafoe: let's start changing things to bring younger fans to the game”​

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Oh yes, Tiafoe is the best person to talk about changing things in tennis.

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Tennis is already more popular than basketball anyway.
 
Why? Wait until a bloody sit down! Sit downs happen after the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th games of a set, as well as always happening at the end of a set. It's not rocket science. It's been the sit down rule since the start of 2000.

The old rule before 2000 was harder for fans. From 1974-1999, sit downs happened after the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th etc. game of a set. Sit downs only happened at the end of a set back then if the set ended 6-1, 6-3 or 7-6 (odd number of games). If a set finished 6-0, 6-2, 6-4 or 7-5 (even number of games), the players would remain standing and play the first game of the next set before sitting down, and the audience never seemed to understand that last bit back then, always moving at the end of a set.
 
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I can definitely see both sides of this. I'm sorry but I'll always find it comical that tennis players need absolute silence and not even a hint of distraction anywhere out the corner of their eye.

Every other sport besides golf deals with crowd distractions just fine. Tennis players would easily learn to deal with it if they had to.
 
MeatTornado said:
I can definitely see both sides of this. I'm sorry but I'll always find it comical that tennis players need absolute silence and not even a hint of distraction anywhere out the corner of their eye.

Every other sport besides golf deals with crowd distractions just fine. Tennis players would easily learn to deal with it if they had to.
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It’s not just about that though really. He mentions moving about.
Spectators sit in fixed seats in rows. Other spectators getting up and trying to get out or coming back in to their seat during a game means they get in the way of the view and enjoyment of other people who are trying to watch a match.
Often people have to get up from their seats in those sort of conditions, to let others in or out.
 
Rattie said:
It’s not just about that though really. He mentions moving about.
Spectators sit in fixed seats in rows. Other spectators getting up and trying to get out or coming back in to their seat during a game means they get in the way of the view and enjoyment of other people who are trying to watch a match.
Often people have to get up from their seats in those sort of conditions, to let others in or out.
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And that happens in every single sport. The only reason it isn't the case in tennis is because it's considered distracting for the players if there's movement in the crowd.
 
MeatTornado said:
And that happens in every single sport. The only reason it isn't the case in tennis is because it's considered distracting for the players if there's movement in the crowd.
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I’ll have to take your word for that but personally as a spectator I don’t want people getting up and blocking my view and having to get up and down to let people in and out during play just because they want to go and fulfil some other need while I’m trying to watch something I’ve paid a lot to go and see. So long may the rule continue.
 
Eh, Tiafoe's heart is in the right place, but all it would take is one of these raging 'blame everyone else' players like a Kyrgios or Medvedev to lose a point due to some crowd disruption.

Then it would be curtains for that idea as they'd cause a massive stink and throw a 20 minute temper tantrum.

Or it opens the door for some 'innocent fans' to decide to run around the stadium yelling and making noise whenever their favorite player's opponents are serving, for example.

I do think Foe is getting at something here though, which is that if we want tennis to stick around, we must improve the live match experience for fans.
 
I'd love to see what would happen if the crowd was allowed to make noise during points. When compared to other sports I don't buy the argument that it would make it impossible for the players to concentrate. Compare it to baseball. It's much harder to hit a 95mph fastball with a tiny stick than it is to return a 125mph serve. But baseball players have adapted to noise crowds just fine.
 
MiamiWeekendWarrior said:
I'd love to see what would happen if the crowd was allowed to make noise during points. When compared to other sports I don't buy the argument that it would make it impossible for the players to concentrate. Compare it to baseball. It's much harder to hit a 95mph fastball with a tiny stick than it is to return a 125mph serve. But baseball players have adapted to noise crowds just fine.
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Try it yourself. Have a dozen or so people make a bunch of noise and do what they can to distract you while you play a buddy in the park.

I think it would be hard to play.
 
Mustard said:
Why? Wait until a bloody sit down! Sit downs happen after the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th games of a set, as well as always happening at the end of a set. It's not rocket science. It's been the sit down rule since the start of 2000.

The old rule before 2000 was harder for fans. From 1974-1999, sit downs happened after the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th etc. game of a set. Sit downs only happened at the end of a set back then if the set ended 6-1, 6-3 or 7-6 (odd number of games). If a set finished 6-0, 6-2, 6-4 or 7-5 (even number of games), the players would remain standing and play the first game of the next set before sitting down, and the audience never seemed to understand that last bit back then, always moving at the end of a set.
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I actually never knew any of this. Thanks!
 
MeatTornado said:
I can definitely see both sides of this. I'm sorry but I'll always find it comical that tennis players need absolute silence and not even a hint of distraction anywhere out the corner of their eye.

Every other sport besides golf deals with crowd distractions just fine. Tennis players would easily learn to deal with it if they had to.
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And gymnasts! Dealing with performing on a balance beam with tons of distractions going on!
 
Rattie said:
I’ll have to take your word for that but personally as a spectator I don’t want people getting up and blocking my view and having to get up and down to let people in and out during play just because they want to go and fulfil some other need while I’m trying to watch something I’ve paid a lot to go and see. So long may the rule continue.
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I don't want it either. But I've never been to a single baseball, basketball, football or hockey game where that didn't happen. It's really not that big a deal to let someone in or out for 2 seconds.
 
Rafa.the.Magnificent said:
I actually never knew any of this. Thanks!
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With the previous rule, sit downs only happened precisely when there was a change of ends (apart from during a tiebreak game, obviously). With the new rule, they got rid of sit downs after the first game of a match and the first game of a set, and had sit downs at the end of every set instead. The other thing that the players have to keep in mind now with end of set sitdowns is which side of the net that they start the next set on. If the set ended 6-1, 6-3 or 7-6, then they play the first game of the next set on the opposite side of the net to where they ended the previous set. If the set ended 6-0, 6-2, 6-4 or 7-5, then they play the first game of the next set on the same side of the net to where they ended the previous set.
 
I think buying a ticket to any sporting event entitles you to sit, cheer, boo and watch. While agree that professional athlete should be able to block distractions, fans should not be moving around during a point. I mean this is tennis, not pickleball.
 
RaulRamirez said:
I've debated (mostly internally) if tennis players really require stillness and silence during points or it's just become ingrained in its culture to play that way.
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Ever been to Challenger/Futures matches? Tennis players can deal just fine with distractions if they have to.

AT LEAST let the spectators not in the lower boxes take their seats, go to the bathroom etc. RIdic when a player stops because someone 200 feet away is taking their seat. Toughen up, buttercup.
 
One of the stupidest rules in tennis is having to wait in the stadium hall/stairs until the changeovers to get to your seat. I am sure players can get used to the distraction of people getting to their seats whenever. Others sports, concerts, etc do just fine with “allowing” people to get up and get back whenever they want to their seats.
 
Still think they could do more with speeding up the game. The current time clock isnt doing much. Time limits to serve aren't being enforced, and the time given between points is too high.
 
Hera said:
One of the stupidest rules in tennis is having to wait in the stadium hall/stairs until the changeovers to get to your seat. I am sure players can get used to the distraction of people getting to their seats whenever. Others sports, concerts, etc do just fine with “allowing” people to get up and get back whenever they want to their seats.
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Other sports are meant for stupid people.
 
MeatTornado said:
I don't want it either. But I've never been to a single baseball, basketball, football or hockey game where that didn't happen. It's really not that big a deal to let someone in or out for 2 seconds.
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I don’t dispute that at all. It’s just not my experience that letting someone in or out takes 2 seconds. People come with bags to tennis matches as it’s a lengthy day and you have to move your bags, get up, wait for them to squeeze pass, trying not to stand on your toes, and then you sit back down again, all of which takes a while. That kind of thing repeatedly happening would ruin my experience of watching a match. It’s only two games before people can move to or from their seats, they can wait that long surely or do people have a terribly short attention span these days. It just seems totally unnecessary to change how it works right now.
 
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Hera said:
One of the stupidest rules in tennis is having to wait in the stadium hall/stairs until the changeovers to get to your seat. I am sure players can get used to the distraction of people getting to their seats whenever. Others sports, concerts, etc do just fine with “allowing” people to get up and get back whenever they want to their seats.
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The problem seems to be mainly with the serve. Players don't like any kind of distractions when preparing to serve as that is when their focus needs to be most concentrated. People moving about even quietly could threaten that.
 
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Rattie said:
I don’t dispute that at all. It’s just not my experience that letting someone in or out takes 2 seconds. People come with bags to tennis matches as it’s a lengthy day and you have to move your bags, get up, wait for them to squeeze pass, trying not to stand on your toes, and then you sit back down again, all of which takes a while. That kind of thing repeatedly happening would ruin my experience of watching a match. It’s only two games before people can move to or from their seats, they can wait that long surely or do people have a terribly short attention span these days. It just seems totally unnecessary to change how it works right now.
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If you ask a guy when he's waiting to get in and has to wait 15 minutes for the changeover, he's going to say it's stupid to have people wait. You just need to let people in

If you ask the same guy and he's sitting in the stadium and someone has to get by him to get to their seat, he's going to say that people should have to wait until a changeover
 
I'd say the gate keeping TSN/ESPN are doing with majority of games behind deep paywalls as well as tournaments blocking any gif/video sharing on social media doesn't help with the younger gen. Things need to be easily shareable and accessible this day and age
 
Znak said:
I'd say the gate keeping TSN/ESPN are doing with majority of games behind deep paywalls as well as tournaments blocking any gif/video sharing on social media doesn't help with the younger gen. Things need to be easily shareable and accessible this day and age
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I think this whole thing started with Jim Courier saying something on Tennis Channel during Indian Wells. Let's see what Jim thinks about your suggestion and if he wants to bring that up to his boss.

Jim and Francis are just pandering to the masses (shocking, I know). It always sounds good to have "more freedom".

As with anything, I'll take their suggestions seriously when it impacts them negatively. It's not really hard for Francis to say "let's do anything we can to boost revenue in the short term while I'm playing, even if it's long term negative (I'll be retired then)"
 
JustMy2Cents said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1638761563241975809
www.forbes.com

Frances Tiafoe Aims To Entertain, Bringing Basketball Culture To Tennis

The happy resonates with fans, with Tiafoe's game and his ability to land new sponsorship deals.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com

I think the high ticket prices are keeping young fans out.
They can and do shout after rallies. Current culture seems fine to me
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Attended NBA game. There is encouragement to make noise to distract AWAY teams from making baskets after foul. I don't want this behaviour in tennis.
 
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norcal said:
Ever been to Challenger/Futures matches? Tennis players can deal just fine with distractions if they have to.

AT LEAST let the spectators not in the lower boxes take their seats, go to the bathroom etc. RIdic when a player stops because someone 200 feet away is taking their seat. Toughen up, buttercup.
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I would agree with that, and was mostly thinking about the noise factor -- not as much about the entering and exiting.
 
Mainad said:
The problem seems to be mainly with the serve. Players don't like any kind of distractions when preparing to serve as that is when their focus needs to be most concentrated. People moving about even quietly could threaten that.
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It's still hard to take seriously when other athletes deal with situations requiring more focus than a tennis serve with 50,000 people going nuts.
 
MeatTornado said:
It's still hard to take seriously when other athletes deal with situations requiring more focus than a tennis serve with 50,000 people going nuts.
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Here's something I've been thinking of re: the noise (as I still debate whether tennis really requires this much quiet or this is more its ingrained culture).

Generally at (for example) a baseball game, there's all kinds of movement and yelling -- unless the crowd is dead. But sometimes in a small, relatively dead crowd, you hear a few isolated leather-lunged voices, which can be more distracting than a loud buzz of thousands shouting. When there's noise during a tennis match, that's what you'll get -- those few, loud (drunken?) voices that are quite distracting.
 
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