WEBVTT - Day Two, Part Two at the US Open 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.360 You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and 0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:12.680 Tim Stenebek on Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:17.759 Yeah, we are all in for tennis, and we know 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:20.080 our next guest certainly is. We love the US Open 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:22.759 for a lot of reasons, including our regular check in 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:25.960 at this time with someone who understands the game tennis, 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:28.840 athlete to play it, the world of sports overall, like 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:31.680 no one we know. Author of numerous books, John Werthheim 0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:34.720 is with US, executive editor and senior writer at Sports Illustrated, 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:38.040 contributing correspondent for sixty Minutes. I'm gonna be a little 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:39.800 bit of a fangirl, John. I love your pieces on 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:42.680 sixty minutes. But he's here with us to talk about 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:45.240 the US Open. He's on the phone in Los Angeles, John, 0:00:45.280 --> 0:00:48.160 welcome back. How are you good? 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:50.600 How are you? I want to zam that intro music. 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:52.720 What a great tennis. 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:56.600 We might be able to get you that, we might 0:00:56.600 --> 0:00:58.760 be able to get you the information on that. I 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:02.040 think Paul Our at Bloomberg Business its cream. 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:03.120 It's cream. 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:06.319 How about that? I didn't recognize that either? Really did 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:07.479 you recognize? Yeah? 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:09.959 I know right, I know who knew? Is that the 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:11.560 Clapton cream is their own. 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:12.560 I don't know. 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:15.959 Hey, John, So let's talk tennis. What are you looking 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:16.760 forward to this year? 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:19.320 It's an interesting year and it's a packed year. I'm 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:21.080 just warning you from when you're here. 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:25.040 Yeah, you know, I'll play really funny. This is the 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:28.720 first US Open after Roger veteran Serena Williams, and for 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:30.400 years and years tennis said what are we going to 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:32.680 do with these two titans are no longer around? What's 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:34.279 going to happen at tennis? 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:37.319 And I think three of the last five sessions set 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:40.600 attendance records. Someone was telling you about the the secondary 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.119 ticket from from the secondary market or tickets is off 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:46.320 the chart. There are a lot of good storylines. One 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:49.360 of them is the abundance of American players who are. 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:52.040 Who are still left in the draw. Is this Coco 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:55.000 Goffs year to win? On the women's side, Is Novak 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.240 Djokovissi and Carlos Alcarez this great new tennis rivalry? Are 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:01.240 they going to have another stallman for the third straight 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:04.760 major in New York? We missed Roger Feeder, we missed 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:07.640 Serena Williams, But there is the show goes on there's 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:09.120 plenty of plenty of tennis to watch. 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:12.359 Yeah, I love the Tiafo story as well, and he's 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:14.640 currently battling it out right now in the third set, 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:18.960 in the fourth set actually right now. So who else 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:20.880 are the big names that you're watching this year? 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:24.760 Oh? I, you know, some of them are the big 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:27.919 names that we're used to. When Niga Schwantek won last 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:31.400 year and is really establishing herself as this generational player 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:35.080 and his Coco Goffin emerge his arrival, and Jesse Pagula 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:38.239 is in fact the highest ranked American male or female 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:41.720 of She's an interesting character with a much different backstory 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:45.320 than than other players. But I also think the fact 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:47.880 that sort of the fields are wide or open, and 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:49.639 you know, I think it would be a surprise if 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:53.320 if either Djokovic or Alcarez don't win, But there's still 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:56.280 a lot of space on stage for other players to 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:59.720 make their move. Taylor Fritz, who is the highest rank 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:02.040 of MARAA can mail, but he hasn't had great success 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:05.160 and a major is this the tournament where he finally 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:08.960 breaks through. There's a lot of we're sort of we're 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:11.960 used to these three players on the men's side better 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:15.040 than all Djokovic, who absolutely dominated. We were used to 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:19.360 Serena doing her ritual run and it's much different to 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:22.400 cover the sport now that the fields are wider open. 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:26.200 You know, d Djokovic is obviously still as relevant as ever, 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:29.760 but it's it's kind of fun not being able to 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:32.560 pencil four players through to the final weekend and you 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:34.200 have this capacity. 0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:36.839 For surprise, keeping us all on our toes. 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:39.200 It's interesting, John, I always think about We've talked about 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:41.400 this a lot with golf, right, you know, golf after 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:43.880 Tiger Woods. You know, in tennis, we've had a lot 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:46.720 of conversations with the USTA over the years about, you know, 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:50.400 making sure there's their interest with the younger generation. And 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:53.920 we see it continuing and we do see younger, newer, 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:57.400 interesting players come out. What is it about tennis that 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:01.280 you think that continues to be a really popular sport. 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:05.640 I would love to see some sort of mess some 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:08.360 sort of data on how many people are at the 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:10.920 US Open, because it's fun at an event and you 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:13.800 walk around and you eat good food and they're guys, 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:18.960 you know, juggling versus the actual tennis. I'm never quite 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:21.320 I'd always sort of just for my own, and it's 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:25.360 just interesting to see. I think tennis is actually getting 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:27.880 a little bit of above from pickleball. I mean there's 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:30.120 sort of this this existential fear in tennis that all 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:32.240 the tennis courts are going to be turned into pickleball 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:35.480 courts and players are retiring to go try their hand 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:37.360 to pickleball. But I think it goes the other way, 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:39.880 and I think all these millions of people that are 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:43.520 playing pickleball have a new found appreciation for this, this 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:48.039 other racket sport. I think tennis's globalization is a little 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:49.680 problematic in the US, right. 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:51.520 I Mean, in golf, all the. 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:54.480 Events are pretty much held in one of three time zones, 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:56.640 and the majority of the tour they're all, you know, 0:04:57.000 --> 0:05:00.800 mostly American and certainly English speaking. Tennis does have that, right, 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.400 I Mean, You've got the player from Tunisia's playing the 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:06.080 Colombian and a lot of times the events are in 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:10.680 the US, you're not on the US friendly time schedules. 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:14.800 But I think overall, this is a really really global sport, 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:17.040 and I think big picture, especially you look at how 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:19.920 many other businesses would love this kind of a footprint. 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:22.760 You know, I would say it's like stepping out a balloon, right. 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:25.200 So it was a lot healthier and easier in the 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:27.640 US when all the events were sort of between California 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:30.039 and Florida and the players came from here. It's a 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:33.280 lot trickier where you've got Serbs and you've got Tunisians. 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:35.040 But I think it's healthier for the sport overall. 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:37.919 You know, it's funny that you say that we talked 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:42.840 with the folks over at IBM yesterday and talking specifically 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:45.720 about trying to bring some of the content from some 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:49.560 of the other matches that aren't either at ASH or 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:51.120 you know, the main you know, kind of the main 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:53.880 focus if you will, here at the open to make 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:57.520 sure that maybe some lesser well known and even you know, 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:00.800 global players at least get their time time and that 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:03.239 their fan base gets to see them. But it's also 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:07.680 there's an AI artificial intelligence component where AI is doing 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:11.920 the commentary voice, you know, and talking about the players 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:12.880 and so on and so forth. 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:14.960 They got a long way to go, though, John, don't worry. 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:18.120 I watched a little bit last night. It's not anywhere 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.120 close to what you do. It's not close to what 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:21.719 we hear from the Macenroe brothers. 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:24.400 But is it good giving you know, some of these 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:28.159 players who might not get attention and their matches some time. 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:30.440 But is it also a little worries though I don't 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:31.880 know with the AI component. 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:39.440 Yeah, it's well to AI. We all recognize some of 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:42.360 the upside of the potential. I'm not sure AI's most 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:46.320 urgent need is for sports commentary. I mean, i've heard 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:49.840 things that like, it's still whatever we won't think we 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:51.520 do known about AI. It gets better, right, it sort 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:55.320 of lurns from its way, it improves rapidly. But I've 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:58.200 heard it's pretty cringey right now and they're you know, 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:02.400 using terms that aren't real his term suspect that will improve. 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:04.839 I got to think there are other ways to excentuate 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:08.600 UH players from other countries, UH from AI. 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:11.920 But you know, I guess I give the USCA and 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:15.720 IBM credit for at least experimenting. But I think I 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:16.200 think we got to. 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:20.080 Yeah, Hey, John, I love I love every year the 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:20.960 tips that you write. 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:23.280 I have been dying off air. 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:25.840 I mean it's not just the ones that you write, 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:28.240 but you also crowdsource them this year with you know, 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:31.480 help from people on Twitter x whatever you call it. Okay, 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:32.680 a couple of things that I have a couple of 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:34.560 things I want to ask for now. I'm not going 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:37.200 to take yours. Uh, what's the deal with how loud 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:39.200 the crowd is this year? And I've noticed it too 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:41.400 watching TV when I'm not here and watching the matches 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:44.440 on TV, you have the the commentators complaining that, hey, 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:47.240 they are too their crowds and ash are being too loud. 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:48.720 Uh while the players are playing. 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:52.360 I think it's healthy and I think, you know, it's 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:55.680 firm level. I feel like crowds take their cue from players. 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:57.960 And you know, you talk before about Francis Siao, he 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:00.880 will say very openly he wants crowds to be louder, 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:03.080 he wants them to move around. Why can't be more 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:06.560 like the NBA. I think there's a sense that, you know, 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:09.160 I go to a sporting event, I act a certain way. 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.600 I get it. It's tennis, it's not Nastar. I'm not 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:15.840 gonna you know, we're not gonna go go popla. You know, 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:18.120 men aren't going to remove it first, but they're they're 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:22.120 I think, I think, I know, you know, I think 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:24.160 you can keep the korum and also have fun and 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:27.440 be loud but I also, honestly, I think that crowds 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:30.680 take their cue from the athlete, and if it doesn't 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:32.880 bother the players, it fathers the ESPN booth. When not 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:34.960 the players, that's that's not much to turn. 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:37.800 I totally agree with you. 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:41.240 I got I saw daggers. I saw daggers from the 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:43.840 player she looked at she looked out my way during 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:45.920 during one of the matches earlier this week. 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:46.600 I love this. 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:48.760 Unless you have a match that day, there's no excuse 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:50.840 for dressing like a player when you attend to the US Open. 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:53.160 You don't wear stirrups to a Yankees game and hint 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:54.480 guards and leotards to the LA. 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:57.480 Leave the wristbands at home, jam. It's so true. 0:08:57.520 --> 0:08:59.280 It is really funny to kind of look around the 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:01.280 crowds and there are people, you know, who were just 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:03.360 fans and they're dressed like a tennis player. 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:08.160 I don't I kind of sort of sometimes want to 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:10.679 approach those people and say, listen, no judgments, but can 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:13.719 you just explain that they can here? And I don't 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:18.240 know if you need blaze me when you've got these 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:21.320 you know, sixty year old passtantly guys with wristbands on 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:24.959 to go to go watch you know, I don't get it. 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:28.720 All right, there's another one we have to do, because 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:30.839 I felt like, where is that one tent, Tim, because 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:33.160 I felt like this happened to me because I did 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:34.960 take that l I R R to go back home 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:38.199 to Manhattan. Oh here it is. Your fund is crushing 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:40.680 it and the Hamptons were amazing, and your kids left 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:43.000 camp and your buddy got you these tickets. If you 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:45.360 insist on a change over conversations, keep it down, Tiger. 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:47.040 It's so true. I'm the l R. 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:48.960 Like they're coming back from here and they're like, hey, 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:52.000 you know the investments and there they name dropped so 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:54.600 many different people and fun and funds. 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:56.040 It could have been a source for you, Carol. 0:09:56.760 --> 0:09:57.959 But it gets a little crazy, right. 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:03.040 John h Yeah, it's a certain type. And you certainly 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:06.160 see that type at the US Open. And you know, 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:10.560 we all we all love uh, we all love full markets, 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:13.520 and we all love you know, and when we close 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:13.800 out a. 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:15.640 High as we seem to be close to doing. 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:17.760 But yeah, I don't need to hear about that, and 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:19.320 neither does the person of seeing. 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:23.200 Before you go. One thing I did want to ask you, 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:25.080 and getting back to just a little bit more serious 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:29.480 is the role of Saudi Arabia in sports specifically overall. 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:37.000 You saw it with LIB golf, WTA, stuff's percolating. How 0:10:37.040 --> 0:10:39.120 are you seeing it as somebody who's covered this industry 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:40.720 for a long time or covered this world. 0:10:42.600 --> 0:10:44.800 Oh man, we could do a whole hour on that. 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:47.679 I get a piece a few months ago for sixteen 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:49.600 minutes when I went. I went to Riot and sort 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:50.120 of saw what. 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:51.240 It was like on the ground. 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:57.640 And I'm clearly the Saudis sports as a place to 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:02.360 get involved. Their economics much different from conventional sports economics. 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:05.880 This is not about media rights deals and selling tickets 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:08.839 and sweet and merchandise. I think this is about rebranding 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:13.079 a country. And you know, we saw in golf that 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:17.000 took uh it took one shape in golf, it's taken others. 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:20.240 In soccer, you know you'll do in football slash soccer. 0:11:20.280 --> 0:11:22.440 You'll notice, you know, there are big time offers and 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:26.280 athletes are being paid a clear premium to come play 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:28.400 in Saudi Arabia. Some of them are accepting it, some 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:29.880 of them are not. I mean, it's interesting to me 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:33.360 there now is to bid on the table for the 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:35.760 women's tennis sort to hold their final events, which is 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:38.400 sort of their big showcases. They're big money. They drea 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:41.920 money maker in Saudi Arabia, and I think, you know, 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.400 we can have a debate about this is the tour 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:48.120 of Billy g and King that's just left China for 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:51.720 ethical reasons because it didn't want sort of to be 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:54.800 compromised on principles, and they left China. Is it's strange 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:57.280 that they would then, you know, pitch their tangent to 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:02.200 Saudi Arabia. The flip side is, and we're all creatures 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:06.160 of incentives. And if Fanny Arabia is offering top dollar, 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:09.400 who are we to tell soccer players or golfers or 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:12.400 female tennis players not to go take it. It's a 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:14.800 story that I think is only going to accelerate because 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:18.840 I think it's it's clearly working. And you know, the 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.080 Saudi private and veil the p I have the private 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:23.000 and that's the fun. They've had billions and billions of 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:26.120 dollars to lavish on this sort of soft power, and 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:29.640 sports are clearly going to benefit and athletes are going 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:30.440 to have a real decision. 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:33.600 To me, but it's tennis different. I mean, you mentioned 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:35.880 China several times there. And what they did in China 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:36.880 is tennis different. 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:40.880 You know, I think a couple of things. First, they 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:45.720 the WTA left China citing these ethical concerns, so you 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:49.600 sort of set up precedent for you know, ethics and 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:52.240 morals and human rights that matters to us. It's a 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:54.800 little strange to them say, actually, you know what, make 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:58.600 that back. It doesn't. I think the Women's Tennis Tour 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:02.560 sort of has this strand and has for decades of 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:06.040 activism and social justice and fairness and equality, and this 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:08.400 is more than just about four hands and backhands and 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:11.920 a bouncing ball. The movement a little strange to then 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:15.560 go to a country where women are not given equal rights. 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:17.960 And we saw this week somebody was playing for guests 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:23.840 for retweeting something that was unflattering to NBA. Right, And 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:27.280 yet I think you could argue just as easily. You know, Look, 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:30.520 Chris John and Ronaldo can make whatever you see, a 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:34.720 quarter of a billion dollars playing soccer. Why can't women 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:37.400 athletes avail themselves to that money the same way men can? 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:40.880 So it's really complex and thorny. 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:44.000 Yeah, we got to run come back into the hour 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:46.120 of Saudi Arabia. We would love to you name the 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:48.200 date at the time. John, you are here, John Worth, 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:52.040 I'm of Sports Illustrated of sixty minutes, just incredible. Carol 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:55.720 Master along with Tim Stenovic live here just outside Arthur 0:13:55.760 --> 0:13:59.680 Ashe Stadium. It's busy and when you come here, we 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:02.520 keep saying it is about the tennis, no doubt about it, right, 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:05.480 But there's so much more. We've talked to sponsors. There's 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:08.480 lots of merchandise, there's lots of food, and there's a 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:09.240 fair amount of drinking. 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.760 I mean walking around last night, walking around Tuesday night. 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:15.040 I'm gonna be here all night tonight. There's almost as 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:18.720 many people eating and drinking totally as watching tennis inside 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.880 ash inside Armstrong. It's an event, right, It's absolutely an event. 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:24.880 And here's what's interesting. But the US Open has establishments 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.200 that are familiar to any New Yorker. It's come a 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:29.880 long way in the last fifty years. You got Italy 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:33.240 here this year, Hill Country, Paatela free to Meat Company 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:35.560 of Patlafreda, Carol Vanluin ice cream. 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:37.360 I love Vanluin ice cream. I buy it. 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:41.840 You've been a kosher kart. Here is a kosher krt. Yeah. 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:43.800 Well, let's get to the guy who's behind it. The 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:45.920 man behind it all is Chris Studley. He's senior director 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:47.840 of Event Services at the ust A. 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:50.080 Welcome. Nice to have you here again. 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:51.040 Thank you for having me. 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:52.760 Is it again? We talked to you last year, didn't we? 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:55.040 I think briefly, Okay, briefly. 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:57.640 One year, one year. We've had you before. 0:14:57.760 --> 0:14:58.960 I was just gonna say, souse, I know we always 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:02.040 talk about food because it's such a big part of it. Chris, 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:04.000 First of all, I can't believe you didn't bring us 0:15:04.040 --> 0:15:04.440 any food. 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:07.400 I'm sorry about that. I'll grab it after the segment. 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:08.400 No, no, no, I'm just kidding. 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:10.560 But like, talk to us about what goes into it, 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:12.680 because you do, Tim Is right, as you walk around, 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:14.040 that is such a big part of the experience. 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:15.840 I've eaten here, Tim is eating here. 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:19.200 Tell us about how you think about it as what 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:19.920 you want to. 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:21.040 Offer up to the people who come. 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:22.960 Well, I can tell you, first of all, I look 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:25.160 at this tournament as a food and wine festival, and 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:26.360 by the way, there's tennis. 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:28.600 So much to what you're describing before. 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:31.160 People are walking around eating and drinking and what we 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:33.320 want to bring in the names you mentioned is the 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:36.280 best quality that there is in sports. We don't want 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:37.720 you to come to a sporting event and say, oh, 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:39.680 I have to eat. We want you to come here 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:41.640 and say what a great meal you had and I 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:44.280 got to watch the tennis. So from our offerings that 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:47.760 you described to our champion steakhouse run by Benjamin's right 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:52.120 from Manhattan to Aces bringing the best chefs, we partnered 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:55.640 with Tatiana chef Kwame and Aces to do some special 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.040 dishes for us. So, I mean it's really about the 0:15:58.040 --> 0:15:59.440 food to me for sure. 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:01.320 How do you make sure that the quality is what 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:04.800 you get in you know, the year round establishment, So 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:06.000 great question. 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:07.840 We meet with these chefs throughout the year. 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:09.760 I can tell you right now we've been talking to 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:12.360 people even during this tournament saying I want in next year. 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:14.520 I'm not going to give you any names today, but 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:17.200 we will evaluate each and every one. We look at 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:20.120 what sells, what do our fans want, what's the quality. 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:22.400 We'll meet with these chefs throughout the year. I can 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:24.120 tell you you know a number of chefs that we 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.640 brought in from James Kennet Crown Shy to Melboy's of Harlem. 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:28.840 We've been there in the off season. 0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:31.680 We sit with them, we talk to them, and you know, 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:33.920 to some the menus might not lend themselves to a 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:36.320 concession stand necessarily, but we'll work with the team to 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:38.360 bring that item into that environment for our fan. 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:40.640 How important is it from year to year, Chris, in 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:43.760 terms of some consistency so that people come back and 0:16:43.760 --> 0:16:44.920 they're like, I know this is going to be here, 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:45.960 and then also bring in some. 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.720 New It's very important, right. Our fans always want to 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:51.120 see us innovate. It's the name of the game and 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:53.960 food especially. Obviously, trends change over years and we want 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:55.840 to be right there. But you need to have the 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:58.840 staples right. Everybody talks about our lobster role as being 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:00.640 one of the one of the iconic foods of the 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:03.080 US Open. It's also our hamburger, believe it or not. 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:04.719 They're all Pat la Freida, even though his name might 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:06.680 not be on that stand. It's all Palerfree to meet 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:09.560 Pats stand over here too. The steak sandwich has almost 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:12.639 become just as famous as the lobster. Also, you know, 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:14.640 we try to find what our fans love and really 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:15.879 gravitate towards and work with it. 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:17.000 We talked a little bit. 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:19.119 Go ahead, girl, I was gonna just what about price point? Like, 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:21.000 how do you think about that as part of the experience. 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:24.520 Absolutely, you know, listen, we're in New York City. Obviously 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:27.320 we're a temporary event, but we were very price sensitive 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:29.679 in a regard. You know, we would put ourselves up 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:31.800 against any other New York City venue and say that 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:34.520 we are probably not the most expensive. We may not 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:36.719 be the least expensive, but we're right in that in 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:38.359 that sweet spot because we want to have value for 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:41.080 our fans. I would tell you that our quality though 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:45.080 surpasses our peers here. So we know that the prices 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:47.400 sometimes can be healthy, but we know that we're giving 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:48.960 you the best quality you can possibly have at a 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:49.560 sporting event. 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:52.479 So are you seeing what's the typical markup from an 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:56.000 established restaurant that you'd experienced in Manhattan and the same 0:17:56.040 --> 0:17:56.920 dish that you'd get here. 0:17:57.840 --> 0:17:58.600 Is there a mark up? 0:17:58.800 --> 0:17:59.439 It's not. 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:02.520 There's no direct correlation in that regard. You know, a 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:04.119 concession stand, you're not going to really be able to 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:06.720 compare directly to the items I can tell you in 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:09.080 some of our restaurants, there's a slight markup just for 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:11.719 you know, bringing the team out here and operating, but 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:13.240 there's no set percentage. 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:15.760 Say hey, one thing you had brought up, Yeah, we 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:17.880