USO needs to be moved back a week

[game..set..match]

it doesn't feel that there is alot of attention/coverage of the USO from the us sports media and i suspect its because of the start of college football and NFL which are the two most popular sports in the country.

once again the ITF continues to show their incompetence in the promotion of the sport. the USO final matches needs to be completed prior to the labor day weekend. the current schedule removes eyeballs and interest just when things are heating up in the tournament...its depressing!

 

[skip1969]

It's been in this slot for as long as I can remember. It will always be competing (in the USA) against other sports . . . and it will always lose since it's such a niche sport. Moving it up a week wouldn't make much of a difference.

 

[SinneGOAT]

because of the start of college football and NFL which are the two most popular sports in the country.

That’s all it is. Right there. Americans care more about football than tennis.

 

[Mustard]

The US media only seem to care (mostly) about US players, and as they have something of a drought in tennis for some years now compared to their glory days, they aren't as interested.

 

[Autodidactic player]

It's been in this slot for as long as I can remember. It will always be competing (in the USA) against other sports . . . and it will always lose since it's such a niche sport. Moving it up a week wouldn't make much of a difference.

Niche yes, but the U.S. Open still draws the fans!

"A massive 720,000 fans normally flow through the gates of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center which make the US Open the single-highest attended sporting event in the world. It is held annually and takes place over two weeks from late August to early September."

The US Open: A Beginner’s Guide

Tennis is a sport that we would all love to play but the reality is very different to those hopes

tennisconnected.com

 

[ibbi]

it doesn't feel that there is alot of attention/coverage of the USO from the us sports media and i suspect its because of the start of college football and NFL which are the two most popular sports in the country.

once again the ITF continues to show their incompetence in the promotion of the sport. the USO final matches needs to be completed prior to the labor day weekend. the current schedule removes eyeballs and interest just when things are heating up in the tournament...its depressing!

They won't move it back precisely BECAUSE of the labor day weekend. They want the middle of the tournament to be the holiday weekend so they can get larger attendance. Having the finals weekend be the holiday weekend wouldn't quite take advantage of that in the same way. They'd be more likely to move it forward a week and start on a Sunday the way they do at Roland Garros now.

I do agree that having the final on opening sunday is always kind of a bummer, but I don't know it'd make that major a difference even if they moved it. People care about tennis, or they don't.

 

[skip1969]

Niche yes, but the U.S. Open still draws the fans!

"A massive 720,000 fans normally flow through the gates of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center which make the US Open the single-highest attended sporting event in the world. It is held annually and takes place over two weeks from late August to early September."

The US Open: A Beginner’s Guide

Tennis is a sport that we would all love to play but the reality is very different to those hopes

tennisconnected.com

Oh, I agree. I mean, for tennis fans it's like the crescendo of the season. I think a lot of people look forward to the USO and have no problem with focusing on it and on other sports.

I was all over the place this past weekend, between keeping an eye on college football (luckily not too attention zapping since my team sucks) and international qualifiers for the World Cup (which I was paying way more attention to). But my main focus was still on the USO.

 

[Lleytonstation]

Americans...

 

[R. Schweikart]

it doesn't feel that there is alot of attention/coverage of the USO from the us sports media and i suspect its because of the start of college football and NFL which are the two most popular sports in the country.

once again the ITF continues to show their incompetence in the promotion of the sport. the USO final matches needs to be completed prior to the labor day weekend. the current schedule removes eyeballs and interest just when things are heating up in the tournament...its depressing!

The US media market is not so important anymore. Only a few percent of the world-wide viewers reside in the USA.

 

[R. Schweikart]

That’s all it is. Right there. Americans care more about football than tennis.

College football!
You can't make this up....

 

[Jason Swerve]

That’s all it is. Right there. Americans care more about football than tennis.

Such as it is today with the lack of star power. This was not the case during the time where Serena was competing with the likes of Hingis and Venus. They consistently outperformed the football numbers when playing each other.

 

[mavsman149]

I actually wish they’d push it at least one week forward, the men’s final is the same day as the first NFL Sunday.

 

[TopspintheTerrible]

College football!
You can't make this up....

The best college football teams are basically as good as NFL teams.

 

[Gumbo Jackson]

From a strictly US TV perspective I agree with OP, but the place on the calendar is amazing for in-person attendance bc it puts the meat of the tournament over a three-day holiday weekend.

Also it is often pretty hot at the US Open, and moving it forward would make it even hotter on average.

 

[SonnyT]

If anything, it needs to move up a week to avoid NFL altogether. PGA Tour did just that: their tour championship was last weekend.

 

[skip1969]

College football!
You can't make this up....

It might seem strange to a foreigner, but the history of American collegiate football is very much intertwined with the history of (association) football (and rugby). Some college football teams are as old as the oldest football clubs in England. Many of today's biggest football clubs in Europe and South America had humble beginnings as old boy teams, neighborhood youth teams, factory teams, etc. Yet both American college football teams and (what are now) professional football clubs have generations of fans and traditions that go back over 100 years.

 

[ForLoveOfTheGame]

it doesn't feel that there is alot of attention/coverage of the USO from the us sports media and i suspect its because of the start of college football and NFL which are the two most popular sports in the country.

once again the ITF continues to show their incompetence in the promotion of the sport. the USO final matches needs to be completed prior to the labor day weekend. the current schedule removes eyeballs and interest just when things are heating up in the tournament...its depressing!

It's because the tennis has been pathetic this year. All one sided robotic matches, sans maybe the Nadal-Djokovic French open. In addition to the weakest field tennis has seen in decades, it doesn't help that US men's tennis is absolutely pitiful. They have neither the game nor the personality for Americans to connect with. Where's your funky Agassi? Stoic and dominating Sampras? Fiery jokester Roddick? The US has been churning out wooden serve bots with no creativity on the court. It's no wonder Americans have moved on to other sports.

 

[game..set..match]

It might see strange to a foreigner, but the history of American collegiate football is very much intertwined with the history of (association) football (and rugby). Some college football teams are as old as the oldest football clubs in England. Many of today's biggest football clubs in Europe and South America had humble beginnings as old boy teams, neighborhood youth teams, factory teams, etc. Yet both American college football teams and (what are now) professional football clubs have generations of fans and traditions that go back over 100 years.

Interesting you would say that because college football is the sport that reminds me the most of world football (soccer)

 

[ollinger]

Many people take vacation in this area in August, I think there might be concern about getting as strong an attendance figure at that time, not to mention stepping on some of the preliminary warm-up tournaments.

 

[Permitlady]

It's all gambling anyway.

 

[skip1969]

Interesting you would say that because college football is the sport that reminds me the most of world football (soccer)

Well, there's the similarity in that both have rabid fan bases, for sure. And cheers/songs and tifos. But yeah, association football (soccer) and American football and rugby (union) all share the same roots and evolved simultaneously. It's pretty interesting stuff, actually.

 

[game..set..match]

So basically most people did not see yesterday’s historic tennis moments at the USO because of the bucs cowboys nfl game.

If the uso was two weeks ago this would be front page news and the biggest sports story in the world . Instead, the only slam in the states is competing with the freaking nfl for eyeballs.

And people wonder why the sport isn’t growing in the states and why so few American stars. Gee I wonder why?

 

[mcs1970]

The US media only seem to care (mostly) about US players, and as they have something of a drought in tennis for some years now compared to their glory days, they aren't as interested.

The TV commentators might hype US players a bit more but I don’t remember any great overall media coverage of Sampras either. Tennis will always be a fringe sport when you take the US sporting fan base as a whole. Unfortunately it is what it is.

 

[CHIP72]

I only read the first 3-4 posts of the thread, but the U.S. Open will never be moved back a week because its schedule is tied to having its middle weekend fall on U.S. Labor Day weekend.

As far as tennis getting overshadowed by football, it was worse in the days when the NFL would start the regular season on Labor Day weekend.