Can UTS New York Grab Tennis Fans Before The U.S. Open?

The U.S. Open qualifying competition got underway this Monday with only days before the main draw which starts on August 26. Sandwiched in between the two dates is the latest instalment of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown – UTS New York – the rebellious new cousin of the tennis circuit.

The UTS is the handiwork of Serena Williams’ former coach Patrick Mouratoglou who created the concept during COVID-19. Getting a shot at a new generation of tennis fans before the big show starts at Flushing Meadows is probably ideal for the Frenchman’s vision, especially as Nick Kyrgios has chosen the new concept to make a comeback.

Kyrgios is the perfect specimen for UTS New York content. “The story about sport cannot be only two guys hitting a tennis ball. It has to be much more than that if you want to bring new fans on board,” said its founder in an interview last year. Kyrgios’s engagement level on social media and his personality thermometer either stirs the soul or sours it. There’s never a dull moment on the Australian’s timeline and that’s reflected in the format of the event.

Ultimate Tennis Showdown is all about presenting the sport with a bouncing pulse without interminable ball bounces. There are “fast and furious” rules with only one serve, no more than 15 seconds between points, and games split into four quarters of eight minutes each. Gamification has been introduced, like tripling the value of a point by playing a bonus card. Other interactive add-ons for the audience include “players and coaches mic’d up” and a “never-seen-before entertainment show with a DJ on the tennis court.”

The instant gratification of the Gen Z demographic is front and center at UTS. Mouratoglou insists that tennis has done very little to move the dial in terms of its appeal beyond the audience that watched Borg, McEnroe and Connors in the 70s and 80s.

The whole ambience is aimed at providing sport as entertainment beyond the ropes of the traditional format. The crowd are not restricted vocally (although the U.S. Open is one of the noisiest around) and the players have leeway to launch their personality and leave protocol behind. The format replaces “quiet please” with a crash the party vibe.

Apart from Kyrgios, there’s Andrey “Rublo” Rublev, Casper “The Ice Man” Ruud, Alex “The Demon” de Minaur, Stefanos “El Greco” Tsitsipas and veteran entertainer Gael Monfils, fresh from his win over Carlos Alcaraz in Cincinnati. The monikers are indicative of character development in a fast and loose tennis soap opera.

The money tree is certainly an attraction for the players. Jack Draper earned the biggest payday of his career by winning all of his matches in 2023 at the London event, pocketing $546,800 for his victory at the Excel in November.

Kyrgios has been drawn to play Ruud, which adds a bit of spice given some of the interactions the two have had on social media. The UTS New York champion will take home a guaranteed $301,000, with $161,000 for the runner-up and $113,000 for both semi-finalists. Each player will earn a minimum of $60,000 over the two-day schedule. Most of UTS’s revenue is derived from broadcasting rights, ticket sales (UTS London sold out in 2023) and sponsorship.

“Leagues, broadcasters, teams, streamers and even athletes themselves are always looking for new ways to engage fans and attract sponsors,” said Alex Beazley-Long of Imagination, an experience brand agency that has worked with the NFL and MLB.

Does traditional tennis really need the rebel yell of this animated live action event? According to ATP Media, the tour’s cumulative audience in 2023 was 1.1 billion, a 28 per cent increase on 2022. Wimbledon 2024 crowds did fall to their lowest in 26 years at one point, but organizers blamed the poor weather. Viewing figures of The Championships across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 was up five per cent overall on 2022. Star Sports boasted their highest ever figures for Grand Slam viewership in India with a massive 36 million watching the All England Club’s crown jewel.

“UTS, whether it succeeds or fails, will generate new data points, spark new conversations and create new opportunities for sponsors and broadcasters. These are all things that are vital for the long-term health of tennis, making the tournament much more than just a gimmick,” Beazley-Long told me.

Play will get underway on Thursday at Forest Hills Stadium, the original venue for the U.S. Open up until 1977. The venue used to hold concerts by The Beatles, The Bee Gees, The Rolling Stones and Simon and Garfunkel. Just over a decade ago, it was upgraded with state-of-the-art technology and now welcomes bands like The Killers, famous for their Millennial anthem “Mr Brightside.”

Kyrgios once told a ball boy at the 2019 U.S. Open that tennis was boring. Maybe his presence at UTS can give it a shot in the arm before showtime at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.