Today’s post is courtesy of guest blogger Erik Gudris.

It did not come as a complete surprise when ESPN and the United States Tennis Association (USTA) made a joint announcement last week that the sports network would be taking over all of the North American broadcast rights to the U.S. Open – one of the four major tournaments that make up the “Grand Slam” of tennis. After enduring declining ratings and having to reschedule airing of an often rain -plagued men’s final from Sunday to Monday for several years now, CBS finally gave up its broadcast rights despite having shown the event since 1968.

But what was a tad surprising about the announcement was the price tag attached to the deal. ESPN will pay the USTA $770 million over an 11-year period starting in 2015 when the CBS contract concludes. According to Sports Business Journal, CBS passed on a chance to renew its broadcast portion of coverage for around $30 million a year. ESPN will pay more than $70 million a year for all U.S. Open rights, including coverage of the lead-up events that are part of the Emirates Airlines U.S. Open Series.

So why did ESPN, who has presented early rounds of the U.S. Open since 2009, pay more for a product that has been going down in ratings, not up? Aside from increased advertising and other revenue opportunities that the network gets by having “first to last ball” coverage, the network believes that through its various platforms that include the flagship channel ESPN, ESPN2 and WatchESPN, its digital streaming service, that ratings will rise in the next few years. ESPN also plans to offer live coverage in some form of all 17 show courts at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows so that tennis fans will have an endless amount of matches to watch as part of ESPN’s planned 130+ hours of coverage, another incentive they hope will attract more viewers.

While ESPN may have the technological means to show coverage from every court at the U.S. Open, what they can’t control is who will actually be playing on those courts. Unlike football, basketball, baseball and other team sports, tennis is solely dependent on the individual stars it creates and having those stars be compelling enough to attract fans, either to purchase tickets to see them live at tournaments or tune in to watch them from whatever electronic device suits them. Of course, team sports has its own breakout stars that command attention week in and week out, but ultimately viewers will cheer on their favorite team, even if the star player is sitting on the bench.

By the year 2026, when ESPN’s new contract with the USTA will expire, the tennis landscape will be very different than it is now. While we are seeing more tennis pros play into their early 30′s these days, unless there are extreme advances in racquet technology and keeping athletes healthy, we are very unlikely to see these same pros compete into their 40s. That means we probably won’t see the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and many more of the current faces of the ATP and WTA tours. (I would add Serena Williams onto this list, but with her current domination of the women’s tour at age 31, she just might keep on playing into her late 30′s like Martina Navratilova did who herself retired from singles play at 37.)

Nobody, not even those at ESPN, knows who the next tennis stars will be in a decade and if those stars will achieve the kind of household recognition that Federer, Nadal, Sharapova, and Williams have earned. While it is true that every generation creates its own champions, these new winners will have their work cut out for them to match the level of interest that the current “Golden Age” of men’s tennis has earned or the compelling narrative of the Williams Sisters and their rise to superstardom.

While that is out of their hands, ESPN and the USTA are probably both hoping for more American players to do well in the future, especially on the men’s side. Over the last several years, several smaller U.S. based events, including long-running tournaments in San Jose and Los Angeles were both sold for a variety of reasons but one of the biggest being the lack of depth in U.S. men’s tennis that resulted in decreasing ticket sales. Things are a tad brighter on the women’s side with 12 Americans currently ranked inside the WTA top 100. While the U.S. Open is a two-week extravaganza that always sells out, it is those fans who can’t travel to New York who will determine whether or they not they feel like tuning into see who is playing, no matter how many ways ESPN offers coverage to them. Having multiple American players not only compete, but also be contenders for the title, will be a big factor in the final ratings of future U.S. Opens.

Even with ESPN’s commitment to carrying more hours of tennis, some have wondered how the network will fit in the U.S. Open into a busy late August to early September schedule that is filled with college football. Others have expressed concern that ratings will dip even more now that those who do not subscribe to cable won’t have access to ESPN’s coverage. ESPN President John Skipper addressed this by saying, “With all the platforms that we have digitally, we have made a commitment that we will put every match during the course of this agreement, will be made available either on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPN3. We presented last year a coherent start-to-finish presentation of Wimbledon and the audience went up, it did not go down. So this sort of old canard that there’s something to be lost by going from broadcast to cable I would submit has it wrong. It is just the opposite. Moving to ESPN allows an opportunity to reach more people across more platforms and that’s what we believe will happen.”

Tennis will always be a niche sport in America. But it still has the power to attract a core audience that advertisers, especially for luxury goods, crave to market to. That reality and the plethora of technological advances in how viewers consume content is a small part as to why ESPN made such a big bet on the future of the U.S. Open. The USTA is certainly happy because they now have a long-term partner who will help finance needed renovations at the National Tennis Center and help fund a recent increase in prize money that some say adverted a players’ strike. Will ESPN be as happy with the deal they just made? We probably won’t really know until 2026 rolls around.

Erik Gudris is a tennis writer whose work has appeared in USA Today, Tennis Now and Tennis View Magazine. Follow him on Twitter at @ATNtennis.

In today’s Sports Business Daily, there was an interesting article about a 2K Sports ad for their tennis video game Top Spin 4 featuring Serena Williams that was supposedly rejected for being too sexy. The ad has ended up on YouTube anyway, so before we discuss further, you can see it for yourself:

The decision on whether or not to use a commercial like this comes down to a conflict between two opposing forces. On one hand, you have the fundamental (albeit cliche) idea that “sex sells,” and on the other hand, you have the debate as to what is and isn’t in good taste. Serena Williams is widely recognized as having tremendous sex appeal, which combined with her tremendous on-the-court success has made her into an iconic figure in sports, fashion and pop culture. So the idea of using a sexy image of her seems like a logical option. But does the combination of revealing outfits, poses and grunting turn sex appeal into something trashy? This is where 2K Sports must have ultimately felt this particular spot went too far.

Now I have three other questions to ponder, and I’d love your thoughts…

1. Would this ad have led to more sales for Top Spin 4 than a more conservative advertising approach?
2. Would running this commercial have adversely affected the brand of 2K Sports? Or for Serena herself?
3. Are ads like this a good or bad thing for women’s tennis overall?

I’m still going back and forth on these myself. I think you can make a good argument that this approach would have sold more copies of this particular game, but that short-term spike may not worth the risk of longer-term brand devaluation.

As for women’s tennis, the idea of using sex appeal to promote women’s sports actually came up at the Women in Sports panel at the Global Sports Forum two weeks ago. Even these distinguished panelists seemed unsure about what’s best in situations like this. Some felt that anything that increases the level of media exposure for women’s sports would be a positive thing in the long-term, whereas others were more concerned about maintaining a positive image. If they can’t decide what the best approach is, it’s not surprising that these decisions are so tough.

I don’t write much about tennis here, so when a friend of mine sent me a press release about a tennis partnership that combines a major sporting event (US Open), a top athlete (Venus Williams), cool technology (a virtual interactive clinic), a top fashion line (Polo Ralph Lauren), a premium sponsor (Mercedes-Benz) and fundraising (Women’s Sports Foundation), I thought I would share some of the release with you. This is the type of partnership-driven event that really creates value for every party and brand involved, from the sponsors to the consumers.

POLO RALPH LAUREN PRESENTS THE LEGENDS CLINIC FEATURING VENUS WILLIAMS

In celebration of its sixth year as the Official Apparel Sponsor of the US Open Tennis Championships, Polo Ralph Lauren presents the Legends Clinic with Venus Williams, a live interactive virtual tennis clinic produced in partnership with Mercedes-Benz at New York’s SPORTIME Tennis Center on Randall’s Island on August 26 at 2:00PM EST. Tennis enthusiasts around the world will tune in as seven-time Grand Slam Champion Venus Williams answers questions, demonstrates technique and offers hints and tips on how to improve your game during this live one-hour interactive clinic. The clinic will reach a global audience as it will be streamed live online exclusively at RalphLauren.com and accessible on mobile devices at m.ralphlauren.com/USOpen.

“The Legends Clinic is ground-breaking. This is a dynamic way of connecting fashion, technology and sports in a way that has never been done before,” said David Lauren, Senior Vice President of Advertising, Marketing and Corporate Communications. “We are providing our customers around the world a unique experience to personally connect with one of the world’s premier tennis legends while she is engaged in her sport.”

Ralph Lauren will design a limited-edition dress in partnership with Eleven to be worn by Venus Williams during the Legends Clinic as well as a special limited-edition US Open polo shirt to accompany the collection. Both the Ralph Lauren designed limited-edition dress and polo shirt will be available on-site at the US Open Polo Ralph Lauren shop and online at RalphLauren.com. Additionally, the limited-edition US Open polo shirt will be exclusively available at Macy’s Herald Square in New York. Fifteen percent of sales will be donated to the Women’s Sports Foundation, dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women through sport and physical activity.

“It is truly exciting to partner with Polo Ralph Lauren in this unique endeavor and to bring my professional expertise and personal experiences to tennis fans around the world,” said Venus Williams.

The Ralph Lauren US Open collection is available on-site at the US Open Polo Ralph Lauren shop open for the duration of the tournament. The store also features a wide selection of items such as tote bags, tennis dresses, skirts, sweaters, commemorative caps, classic Polo shirts for men and women. The collection will also be available at select Ralph Lauren stores, department stores and online at Ralphlauren.com.

As part of the Legends Clinic, Mercedes-Benz, the official vehicle of the US Open Tennis Championship and presenting sponsor of the Men’s Single Championship, will highlight its new SLS AMG supercar that draws inspiration from the 1954 300SL Gullwing, a legendary car known for its iconic style and innovation.

This announcement reinforces Polo Ralph Lauren’s leadership in major sporting initiatives. The company also serves as the Official Outfitter of the Wimbledon Championships and will be the Proud Outfitter for the US Olympic and Paralympic Teams at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Polo Ralph Lauren also sponsors an elite roster of professional golfers, as well as the Blackwatch Polo Team.

Today we have a special guest post and contest for everyone. Donald Dell, Founder of ProServ and President of Blue Entertainment Sports Television (BEST) recently released his new book, “Never Make the First Offer (Except When You Should) – Wisdom from a Master Dealmaker.” You can learn more about the book and watch video clips of interviews with Donald by visiting www.donalddell.com.

Donald has graciously provided an excerpt from the book below, and we’ve put together a contest to celebrate the book release. We are giving away three copies of his book, and there are three different ways to win. You can…

• Add a comment on this post (and make it relevant – unrelated comments will be deleted)
• Tweet this post clicking the “retweet” button at the top left
• Leave a comment on The Business of Sports Facebook Fan Page regarding this post

One lucky winner will be randomly chosen from each of the three different audiences, and you can enter via all three methods (only one entry per person will count for each method of entry). The contest will run from now until Sunday at 12pm EST. Good luck, and enjoy the book excerpt!

Look at the Big Picture

The biggest problem with accurately reading situations is to understand that you are part of the problem. In other words, since you are inside the situation yourself, it is hard to look at it purely objectively. Sometimes it can be really helpful to take a moment to step back and look at the big picture. How are you progressing in terms of reaching your objectives? What is standing in the way? What is your part in it? What can you do about it?

Even though this anecdote isn’t strictly about business, I want to tell a story that illustrates this point of looking past the minutiae at the larger picture. In fact, I want to tell it because, first, many of the lessons in this book can and should be applied to personal as well as professional matters, and, second, it has never been told before. Had it come out when it took place, twenty-five years ago, it would have made front-page headlines all over the world and probably gotten Bill Talbert and me ostracized from tennis. It is the story of how I helped to salvage the finals of the 1983 U.S. Open in a match between Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors.

continue reading "“Never Make the First Offer” Excerpt and Contest"

The US Open receives a lot of credit for some of their creative and engaging sponsor activation opportunities. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the event myself to write a recap, but the good folks at PartnershipActivation.com and SponsorPitch.com have let me “borrow” some of their great recaps to share with you here.

The US Open Smash Zone – The US Open worked with Synergy Events to create this incredible fan engagement experience at the USTA Indoor Training Center. There were multiple opportunities to play different style tennis games, including the American Express “Challenge a Pro” green screen exhibit that puts you into a “virtual” match with a professional player. Check out this video example below, and read the full write-up at PartnershipActivation.com:

Mobile Engagement from Chase and American Express (via SponsorPitch.com) – Chase had a simple but effective text-to-win program where fans could enter via a mobile text message to win free tickets. Meanwhile, American Express had both a branded iPhone application that provided live scores and American Express Radio Live that let fans listen to live commentary while watching the matches.

Mass-Mutual Half a Racket Game (via SponsorPitch.com) – Attendees could participate in this game, playing with literally half of an actual tennis racket. Seems a bit frustrating, but it emphasizes the point of how difficult it is to manage with half of anything, such as the income most people get while on disability, thus providing a unique way for Mass Mutual to promote their supplemental disability insurance.

Creative Brand Elements from Continental and Others (via PartnershipActivation.com) – This airplane built out of tennis balls that was part of the Continental booth definitely help catch people’s attention. There were several other creative and effective branding displays, such as the Heineken Pub, a giant Lexus tennis ball and a truly “oversized” Wilson racket. Visit PartnershipActivation.com for more great pictures.

The Basic Booth Approach (via SponsorPitch.com) – Some companies, like SpongeTech and Oikos Yogurt, took the basic route of product display and free samples. As long as you have a good location for these booths, this can still be a very effective way to connect with potential customers at the event.

Thanks again to the guys at PartnershipActivation and SponsorPitch for sharing their great US Open activation content.