July 25, 2025 • 27 mins
The electric energy of the US Open Tennis Championships goes far beyond the baseline. In this illuminating conversation, Nicole Kankam, Managing Director of Pro Tennis Marketing & Entertainment at the USTA, reveals how America's premier tennis event has become a cultural phenomenon by masterfully balancing tradition with innovation.
Kankam offers a fascinating glimpse into the tournament's diverse audience, increasingly representative of America's demographics, with an even male-female split. Most surprising? Half of all attendees don't even play tennis themselves, revealing enormous potential for growing the sport.
The conversation delves into the evolution of Fan Week, a free pre-tournament experience that has nearly tripled attendance in eight years. This accessibility strategy has instead created a powerful pipeline, with two-thirds of Fan Week visitors planning to return for the main tournament.
From silent discos during qualifying play to reimagined mixed doubles formats, the US Open exemplifies how sports properties can honor their heritage while embracing change. Kankam sums up the experience in one perfect word: "electric." It's this vibrant energy that keeps fans coming back to Flushing Meadows each summer, whether they're holding a racquet or simply seeking an unforgettable New York moment.
Follow Fandom Unpacked for more insider conversations with the innovators redefining sports and entertainment experiences.
Recorded Thursday, July 24th, 2025
Hosts: Damian Bazadona, CEO & Founder, Situation
Guest: Nicole Kankam, Managing Director of Pro Tennis Marketing & Entertainment, USTA
Producer: Peter Yagecic, Innovation Advisor, Situation
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Peter Yagecic (00:05):
You're listening to Fandom Unpacked the podcast,
an audio version of our regularlive stream series where we
unpack modern fandom with someof the brightest minds in sports
and entertainment.
I'm producer Peter Jicic, andjoining me for today's Q&A is
Situation's CEO and founder,damian Bazadana.
Our guest today is NicoleCancam, managing Director of Pro
Tennis Marketing andEntertainment at the United
(00:26):
States Tennis Association.
The USTA owns and operates theUS Open Tennis Championships,
which will get underway in justa few weeks from the time of
this recording.
Here's Damian to serve up thefirst question.
Damian Bazadona (00:39):
Well, first off , us Open is one of my favorite
events.
I go every year and I know I'mnot alone in that spirit.
Let's start at 30,000 feet.
Could we zoom out a little bitinto the world of the USTA, a
little bit more of the marketingmandate and that ecosystem?
I'd love for the audience tostart with that, if you don't
mind.
Nicole Kankam (00:57):
Sure.
So the USTA is a mission-basedorganization.
Our mission is to grow tennisand make it look like America.
So that involves sort of twobusiness units.
We've got our community tennis,which is really focused on
participation.
We actually announced last yearthis very ambitious goal of
getting 35 million tennisplayers by the year 2035.
(01:19):
So that team is very muchfocused on different pillars to
help support that strategicpriority.
Then we have pro tennis, whichis where I reside.
That is our professional tennis.
That's the side of the businessthat runs the US Open that
leverages all of our pro tennisassets to drive revenue to
(01:39):
support that mission.
The US Open being the biggestone, we affectionately refer to
it as the bake sale that raisesall the funds to grow tennis.
But the US Open is also a greatopportunity to inspire tennis.
So we're very much our missionaround the US Open is to deliver
a spectacular experience forfans and inspire the next
(02:02):
generation of tennis fans.
Damian Bazadona (02:04):
And we're going to get a little bit into the
audience development.
I can tell you my own sonbringing to the US Open inspired
him to start actually playingtennis.
Nicole Kankam (02:10):
I love that.
Damian Bazadona (02:11):
Yes, I have a real focus group of one, so how
would you describe the US Openaudience For those that haven't
been able to attend and there'sa fair number of people on this
series from all over the worldhow would you describe the US
Open experience and the US Openaudience, I suppose?
Nicole Kankam (02:26):
Yeah, yeah.
So just overall, the coredemographics of the audience.
You know where.
It is very educated, veryaffluent.
You know 80 plus percent ofattendees have at least a
bachelor's degree or more.
You know six-figure household,six-figure plus really household
income.
It is fairly diverse.
A third of our audienceidentifies as a person of color.
(02:49):
About half of our audiencecomes from the tri-state area
but the other half comes fromwell outside that,
representative of throughout thecountry and also
internationally.
We're sort of bouncing back fromthe pandemic.
So pre-pandemic it could havebeen upwards of 20 to 25 percent
international audience.
Now we're hovering around 10 to12 percent international and
(03:10):
slowly building that back.
But it is.
It's a fluent, educated, butit's very diverse.
Compared to other sportingevents it's really more balanced
female, male.
So it's pretty even splitbetween male and female and
there's some variety between thehardcore tennis fans.
I mean we do know that half ofour audience that comes to the
(03:31):
US Open plays tennis, but theother half may not play tennis
Again.
We're looking to convert thoseinto tennis players, tennis fans
, but they can be anywhere frompeople that are just
entertainment seekers.
So this is their annualtradition.
They come for a great event.
We get a lot of corporateclients that come out here to
(03:52):
entertain clients or do business.
But it's such a.
You know it is a great tennisevent and the tennis product is
core to that.
But because it's so much more,it really does expand the
audience beyond the tennis fan.
Damian Bazadona (04:04):
That but because it's so much more.
It really does expand theaudience beyond the tennis fan.
Take me through the thinking ofhow you think about creating
air quotes new fans into the USOpen experience, and I know I've
been watching it over the years.
This is your 19th US Open.
Is that correct?
Yes, I can't even believe it.
Oh my God.
Nicole Kankam (04:19):
And I was a baby.
Damian Bazadona (04:20):
but yes, they should do something special for
you this year, but definitelyfor your 20th, I hope you as
well.
They make something very nicefor you, just saying it out loud
.
Take me through some of thethinking and how you guys have
expanded the programming.
You've been there, you've seenenough of them and I think it's
very impressive of how you'veexpanded kind of the efforts
(04:40):
around the open at large tobuild the audience.
Take us through that.
Nicole Kankam (04:43):
Oh, thank you and thanks for saying that.
You know it really is acollaborative effort.
You know, obviously I'm drivingthe marketing and entertainment
around the US Open, but wereally think of every facet of
the US Open experience, from thepartners that we engage to the
facilities team to playeroperations.
But I would say our biggestopportunity for fan growth that
(05:04):
we've been investing in issomething called Fan Week.
So it started about eight yearsago.
It was built on something thatwas part of the US Open DNA for
years.
So the qualifying tournament,which for sports fans it's sort
of like the play-in tournamentthat happens prior to the
singles main draw, was alwaysfree free and open to the public
(05:27):
.
But it really was a time wherewe were still kind of putting
things together.
It was a little bit more behindthe scenes.
It was a secret amongsthardcore tennis fans that you
could see qualifiers competingfor the last few slots in the
main draw of the tournament andyou could get onto the site and
see that for free.
And we made the strategicdecision a number of years ago
(05:48):
to maintain that free productbut to build it out, enhance it
again, invest in the experienceso that it felt like it was part
of the US Open, fans wouldstill come onto the site for
free but feel like they were atthe US Open and experience all
this great tennis.
It's a great opportunity forfamilies to come at a more
accessible you know, from acrowd perspective but also
(06:12):
accessible price point that youcould come and experience the US
Open and maybe get a taste ofwhat it all has to offer and
then, you know, hopefullyconvert those to ticket buying
fans in the future.
But the way it's grownexponentially, I think even
surpass our expectations in sucha short period of time.
The audience has almost tripledsince we started this idea of
(06:34):
Fan Week back eight years agoand we also see, looking at the
data you know I just talkedabout the audience demographics
and we're still getting ahigh-end consumer to Fan Week.
But again, it is moreaccessible.
It is also more diverse.
So about half of the audienceidentifies as people of color
during Fan Week.
So we're really building thepipeline for fans to hopefully
(06:57):
be future tennis players butalso to be future US Open fans.
Damian Bazadona (07:01):
Did you have?
Was there concern about, whenyou offered free programming,
that it could cannibalizeattendance to paid programming?
Nicole Kankam (07:12):
In a word yes, there were very strong concerns
about that and you know it wasalso when we started, at a time
where the US Open definitely hasbecome a cultural phenomenon
and we sell out most of ourtickets but we work hard to sell
all those tickets.
And so at the time when we wereintroducing a free product that
(07:33):
maybe could have been on par toour main draw product, there
were definitely folks on therevenue side that were concerned
that we were giving away ourproduct for free, that we were
promoting a free product thatpeople would choose over the
main draw and you know it was ahefty investment that we were
making, that we were notgenerating immediate revenue
(07:53):
from that.
There were concerns across theorganization on whether that was
a wise investment.
But I can stand here and sithere and say that it absolutely
has paid off.
You know, what we saw in thoseearly years is that actually
people came to Fan Week and thenwanted to come back to Main
Draw and then wanted to comeback to main draw.
As a matter of fact, two-thirdswhen we surveyed fans to fan
week, two-thirds of the audiencethat were coming for fan week
(08:17):
said I'm coming back for maindraw and only half of those had
already bought their tickets.
So some people came.
They had already bought theirtickets for main draw but they
wanted to come experience fanweek.
Some people came to fan weekand had such a great experience
that they wanted to buy ticketsand come back for the main draw.
And in addition to that, I thinkyou know the added promotion
(08:38):
around and building hype up forthe US Open.
You know, during Fan Week youcan see the players' practices.
They're getting ready.
So if you're seeing thisamazing player that maybe you
hadn't heard of before and yousee them playing up close and
personal, you want to buy aticket to come see them in the
competition.
So that added promotion justcreated a great runway into our
(09:00):
main draw.
Damian Bazadona (09:01):
That really boosted ticket sales as well I
think you could see in theresults.
Um, it just seems that way, um,and I think it's, and I'm
assuming as it grows it's goingto continue to grow and I'm sure
me, even more.
Like, how do you hold itmeasurable over time?
Because you're going to investmore into it, you're going to
see more expense and output andall this stuff.
But I just think, instinctually, the way that I see it, I just
(09:22):
think it's genius and I wishmore brands did it, because if
you're trying to invite newpeople into the tent that may
not be familiar with it, youhave to remove all the barriers
to do that and let the productspeak for itself, absolutely.
Nicole Kankam (09:32):
But it's.
You know it can be a scaryconcerning thing because it's
not for the faint of heart andit also does take significant
investment and you know, beingable to have the appetite, to
know that you want to build overtime.
I think you have to have theleadership committed to that.
The other you talked aboutmeasurement and you know one of
(09:52):
the things that we do.
So, again, we're welcoming fansonto the grounds for free, but
we have something in placecalled Fan Access Pass where
fans can register for a digitalticket to enhance their
experience while on site.
Again, it's totally free, it'san opportunity to win prizes and
there's lots of incentives forfans to sign up for it.
But that's our data capturemechanism.
(10:14):
So we're utilizing that data tofind out about the audience,
audience demographics, what arethey enjoying, through surveys,
and then we're also using thatdata to then market for ticket
sales and we are tracking overtime how that is also growing
our audience and we can see therevenue that's generated.
I mean, the return oninvestment is, you know, I would
(10:35):
say, tenfold, if not more.
Damian Bazadona (10:38):
Yeah, peter, I know we have some questions
coming in.
Just one thing I want to diveinto a little bit and I know a
lot of brands on this webinar orthis is interesting to them is
the idea of kind of legacy andtradition versus expanding a new
audience that does not knowthat legacy and tradition and I
think tennis is steeped in thisI think it's one of the few
sports where everything goes shhand they get quiet together.
(11:00):
How do you think about that?
And I think, as you've grown,you said half the audience I'm
going to call them play tennisand half are just there and
you're building the audience.
How do you navigate that sortof tension of staying true to
legacy and tradition, creatingnew legacies and traditions for
new audiences and how they'rethinking about it?
Nicole Kankam (11:20):
Take me into that world because that just sounds
exciting.
I know it's very tricky, it isa big challenge and you know
it's not just the fans thatreally believe.
You know that they own thesport and they own this event
and the traditionalists.
And again, we know so many fansmake this their annual
tradition that they come year inand year out.
We hear from them They've beencoming for, you know, decades.
(11:41):
But there's also, you know,internal organization and
leadership that understand andwant to preserve that history
and that tradition.
You know, I think the greatthing about the US Open is that
our legacy is innovation.
So we have a tradition ofinnovating within the sport,
especially in comparison to someof our Grand Slam brethren.
(12:04):
You know we were the first oneto change our courts to blue, to
introduce electronic linecalling, to bring more
entertainment, to bring morecelebrity to, you know, sort of
expand beyond just the tennisproduct.
And so having that history andthat tradition of wanting to
push the boundaries a little bit, I think works in our favor.
(12:25):
But that's not to say that wearen't without, you know, some
tension when it comes tobringing in new voices and
bringing in new personalitiesand also trying new things.
This year we're reimagining themixed doubles championship in a
way that's never been donebefore.
There's been a lot of chatterabout it from tennis players,
(12:47):
from traditionals in the sport,but what I can say is we stand
firm in our desire to innovate,to push the sport forward.
We're going to try some newthings.
You know, if you don't try, ifyou don't, you know, stand for
change, then you know you're aptto die.
So, yeah, so we're balancingthat right.
(13:08):
And so, even with thisreimagining of the mixed doubles
championship, that right, andand so, even with this
reimagining of the mixed doubleschampionship, we've moved it to
week one, fan week of the USOpen.
It allows us to put a spotlighton it, and we've brought in the
biggest stars in tennis thatare going to be competing for it
, and we're really excited aboutthat.
So we'll we'll see how thisgoes.
But we also then have theproduct that people know and
(13:30):
love and those traditions thatwe're maintaining, and so I
think we're able to hold on tosome of those while still
pushing the sport forward.
Peter Yagecic (13:41):
Fandom Unpacked is brought to you by Situation,
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Check us out atsituationinteractivecom.
(14:02):
Now back to our Q&A.
Peter, yeah, I'm going to tryto sneak in too real quick
because we've got some greataudience questions coming in.
The first one.
I want to go back to Fan Weekfor a second, and first of all I
just want to make sure that ouraudience knows so that begins
Monday, august 18th this year.
(14:23):
That's right, fantastic.
So I just wanted to make sureeverybody who wants to check it
out can do so.
Nicole Kankam (14:29):
That's totally free.
Peter Yagecic (14:30):
So the question was you said that Fan Week and
qualifying play used to be moreof a behind-the-curtain secret
experience, but now visitorsexpect things to be show-ready
during Fan Week.
Are there ways?
Nicole Kankam (14:49):
that you can speak to those fans who come
during Fan Week about helping tomake the party a success, like
promoting the event via socialmedia, for instance.
No, absolutely, and again, youknow, I think us adding in other
content and other experiencesand opportunities to Fan Week so
that, yes, you're seeing theproduct and the research shows
that most people are comingthere to see the qualifying
tournament, to see the playerspractice, but then adding other
enhancements.
We'll have a stage set up inthe Fountain Plaza where we'll
have players that once theypractice and they come on the
(15:10):
stage and you kind of get to seeanother side of them, we'll
have performances there on site.
You know, I thinkorganizationally we've been
focused on the US Open starts onAugust 18th.
So we're ready and we'rewanting to ensure that fans that
come on site get that full USOpen experience.
We're also having a little bitof fun by adding these other
(15:31):
layers.
We're introducing new this yeara silent disco on Monday night.
So it'll be a party, butbecause we have tennis and this
is where it gets to, maintainingtradition that we don't want to
be too loud while qualifyingtournament is still happening,
hence the silent disco.
We have a block party happeningon Friday night once the
qualifying tournament ends.
(15:52):
And then we also have ArthurAshe Kids Day, which is our
largest kids tennis festival.
That's been going on for morethan two decades in our Arthur
Ashe legacy and bringing kids totennis and really improving
their lives.
So you know, we're focused oncreating this great experience
to again fulfill that mission ofinspiring tennis fans.
Peter Yagecic (16:16):
Great Well, and I'm going to sneak in one more
question, but I'm going toreword it slightly because I
don't think it's fair the way itwas asked.
So the question was who is themust-see tennis star this year?
And I don't want to make youpick, because I don't think
that's fair.
Nicole Kankam (16:28):
Oh, I know, that's so not fair.
Peter Yagecic (16:30):
Is there anyone that you, in particular, are
super excited to see this year?
Nicole Kankam (16:35):
Well, of course I cannot play favorites as a USDA
employee, but I can say youknow, again, with the Mixed
Doubles Championship, all of thetop stars are going to be there
for that event in a way thatthey haven't played before, and
to see them playing, you know,men and women like Carlos
Alvarez and Emma Raducanu on ateam playing together.
That's cool, really going to beexciting.
(16:55):
Venus Williams is back.
I don't know if you've seen her.
You know there's a lot of buzzabout her winning a match at the
DC Open.
She's going to be playing atStars of the Open and she's also
entered into the Mixed DoublesChampionship as well.
So I mean it's kind of amazingto see her, after all these
years, still having this loveand passion for the sport and
(17:16):
out on the court.
But you know all the othergreat stars too.
I mean Yannick Sinner is havingan amazing summer, djokovic is
still around and, like I said,you know, to be able to see all
of those during fan week isreally exciting and a great
opportunity for people to bringout their families in a way that
(17:37):
feels more approachable Allright, so let's get into.
Damian Bazadona (17:40):
I want to talk about the advertising, and I say
that as a New Yorker and seeingthe advertising, okay, and I
think last year when I heard FatJoe as the voiceover I believe
that was last year- I was like,oh, look at that.
And what's cool about it isthat I'm also a Knicks fan, so I
just know the intersection ofall these voices.
I'm like this is a New Yorkcultural experience, this is a
(18:02):
thing to do in New York.
This is the thing to do in NewYork.
And then I saw Mustard thisyear, and so then, if you're,
this is your 19th.
I'm reinforcing that point justto talk about the longevity.
Nicole Kankam (18:13):
Yes, I know, I know, man, I'm sorry.
Damian Bazadona (18:15):
Look great so, but so take me through.
What's what's different?
How is it?
So?
Tell me where, even if we,however far you want to go back,
Want to go pre-pandemic orfurther back, Tell me what's.
I love it.
Firstly, I'm a huge fan of whatyou're doing.
Nicole Kankam (18:29):
I love it.
Damian Bazadona (18:29):
Looks awesome.
No, thank you.
Why are we doing that?
Just help get a look at the whyit has changed, right.
Nicole Kankam (18:34):
I mean, the world has changed, right.
Like how people consume media,where they're consuming media
has changed.
If we think about, you know,the audience that we're trying
to reach and future fans, weneed to meet them where they are
, to meet them where they are ina way that feels, you know,
culturally relevant and organic.
I do have to say, on the FatJoe story, it's really it's a
(19:00):
really sort of fun full circlemoment, because I started my
career in the music industry.
I worked at Atlantic Recordsmore than two decades ago when
Fat Joe was on the label, and sothat's kind of how partly how
that came together, bringing himback once, you know, looking
for an opportunity to kind ofreach back to my music roots.
But if I think about how theadvertising has changed, you
(19:22):
know, of course, what was thecenterpiece of our advertising
was the big, splashy New YorkTimes ad and the TV spot that
ran on, you know, good MorningAmerica.
And while there are somecomponents of that that still
make up our media vibe because,to your point, we have our
traditional fans that maybe areconsuming that media how we're
thinking about connecting withnew fans is thinking about our
(19:47):
content differently.
So thinking, you know, as we'recreating content that shows the
full breadth of the US Openexperience, it is very much
through a social first lens andthat video that we created works
really well in social, but italso works in TV, because even
the content that fans arewatching on TV all seems to have
(20:07):
that sort of social frenetic,you know, attention-grabbing
style that has been importantfor us to do and then, in more
recent years, aligning with aniconic New York voice or figure
or kind of infusing that sort oftangential entertainment
(20:29):
character into our advertising,has proven to be really
successful, because it allows usto one, generate more earned
media around our campaign and toextend the marketing in
channels that we may not havebeen previously, and then for
those characters to you know,sort of share to their audiences
and to show that the US Openreally is reaching a
(20:50):
cross-section of fans.
I mean, what was so excitingthis year about Mustard is to
know and to learn that he lovestennis.
He plays a couple hours a day,even as he's touring with
Kendrick Lamar and SZA.
He's finding tennis courts inevery market and playing for a
couple hours a day, and he justloves the sport, and so we'll
for sure see him at the US Open,but having him lend his voice
(21:13):
and his production chops onremixing a song for the campaign
was really a home run.
Damian Bazadona (21:19):
How do you so we get you attract a huge
audience to the Open?
How do you think about theother we'll call it the 49 weeks
of the year.
Take the three weeks out of it.
How do you think about theother 49 weeks of the year in
terms of then?
How do you kind of keep themgoing?
And it's hard.
I'm imagining, yeah, so how doyou think about that?
Nicole Kankam (21:36):
Yes, well, you know it is helpful that tennis
has a long season.
There is no real off season inthe sport and so if we think
about, you know, the othertennis events that are happening
outside of the US Open, anytimewe can find opportunities to
connect the US Open to what'shappening in Australia or in
Paris.
(21:57):
Roland Garros in the lead up tothe US Open are opportunities
for us to connect to our fanbase and again bring it back
home.
We have a long purchase cycleso even though for individual
tickets you're really justbuying in the summer, we think
back to the equivalent of ourseason ticket holders are our
full series subscribers, sowe're connecting with them.
(22:17):
You know we want to extend thehalo and the excitement around
the US Open post event, but thatcycle begins very early in the
year and we look foropportunities to be relevant and
the fact that also we've got somuch great entertainment talent
that comes to the US Open.
When that is relevant inculture and we see opportunities
(22:38):
to connect the US Open audienceto what's happening in culture,
we find those as well.
Damian Bazadona (22:43):
Peter, I know I'm hogging the questions.
There's more.
There's audience questions.
Peter Yagecic (22:46):
No well, this audience question actually is
perfect for what you just said,nicole, because it's talking
about tennis and the culture.
Do you find that tennis beingused as a character in film and
television Challengers mostrecently comes to mind.
The 2024 film helps to marketthe US Open, even if the subject
of the film isn't real lifetennis competition.
If so, how can you lean intothings like that?
Nicole Kankam (23:07):
Yes, no, that is a really great question,
especially Challengers.
We did see a lot of buzz.
I mean, having Zendaya, youknow, wearing tennis core on the
blue red carpet, you knoweverywhere she's going, is for
sure a boost to us.
So we love it and, as a matterof fact, we do look for
opportunities.
The timing of the Challengersmovie actually didn't work as
(23:30):
well as we had hoped to line upwith the US Open, but we had
planned to have a whole sort ofintegration and collaboration
with films like that.
Listen, we always want to makesure that it also upholds our
brand and so when we think andlook at movies that are doing
that, we want to make sure thatthere is brand alignment there
as well and it makes sense.
(23:51):
But a great example too thatmaybe not is tennis-related, but
just brand collaborations andopportunities what we did with
Hell's Kitchen last year andAlicia Keys, her new musical.
I think she has become a hugetennis fan, but she had her
musical coming out.
She took her signature song,kaleidoscope, and made a remix
(24:15):
that became the song of the USOpen.
So I think that tennis moviesand you know we constantly are
looking for creative ways tocollaborate and infuse that into
the culture, and when it makessense and when the timing
matches up, we're all for it.
Peter Yagecic (24:31):
Great.
Well, I'm going to sneak in onemore audience question before
kicking it back to Damian towrap us up, but you talked a
little bit about innovation andhow the USDA embraces innovation
, which I love to hear.
Are there any technologyinnovations coming along that
you think might improve the fanexperience?
Could AI, for example,supercharge the fan access pass
to give fans a more personalizedexperience, or anything that
(24:53):
you might be excited about?
Nicole Kankam (24:54):
Yes, I mean we do use AI for you know, anything
like communications through ourchat bot.
We've talked about evennavigating the grounds, as the
crowds really are surging andgetting more popular.
How can we give fans moreinformation that helps them
navigate the grounds more easilyand directs them to places
(25:14):
where they can really have anenjoyable experience?
We're looking into that,particularly this year, as we
have 17 courts and there'stennis happening all throughout
the grounds.
How can we visualize, like youknow, go to these courts where
you're going to get a greatexperience, or go have a honey
deuce at this location, becausewe know that there's a lot.
You know a shorter line, thatyou can experience that better.
(25:36):
So a lot of that is very muchon the horizon and some of that
you'll see at the US Open thisyear.
Damian Bazadona (25:44):
All right, I have one more question, but
before I say that, I just wantto say, nicole, thank you for
your time.
You are always very given withyour time and I think, the work
that you and your team are doing.
I challenge anyone to find alive event doing it better in
terms of how you're evolving thebrand truly and look at US Open
continues to just grow and growin terms of popularity Kudos
it's incredible.
(26:06):
So a lot of people on thiswebinar will not be able to
attend US Open anyS Open at anypoint in time.
What would?
How would you describe the USOpen If you would describe it in
one word?
Nicole Kankam (26:16):
Yeah.
Damian Bazadona (26:17):
The, the, the feeling of attending the US Open
.
How would you describe it topeople?
Nicole Kankam (26:23):
I know, and you know, some people have asked me,
like you've been there for 19US Opens, like does it ever get
I don't know boring or the same?
And it doesn't.
It's electric Every day all nowit'll be all 21 days that I'll
be there.
It's an electric vibe.
You know it's great.
(26:47):
It's a quintessential New YorkCity event that when you come on
site you see people from allwalks of life but they're all
having an amazing experience.
It's a vibe, but it's anelectric vibe that is fully
present throughout the threeweeks of the event.
Damian Bazadona (26:59):
I agree with you on electric.
That's what I'd describe it to.
It's my favorite event of theyear.
Peter Yagecic (27:05):
That's going to do it for this episode of Fandom
Unpacked the podcast.
If you liked what you heard,please be sure to leave us a
review on Apple Podcasts.
Find out how to join us livefor an upcoming recording at
situationlivecom slash fan.
We'll see you next time, truebelievers.
You're listening to Fandom Unpacked the podcast,
an audio version of our regularlive stream series where we
unpack modern fandom with someof the brightest minds in sports
and entertainment.
I'm producer Peter Jicic, andjoining me for today's Q&A is
Situation's CEO and founder,damian Bazadana.
Our guest today is NicoleCancam, managing Director of Pro
Tennis Marketing andEntertainment at the United
(00:26):
States Tennis Association.
The USTA owns and operates theUS Open Tennis Championships,
which will get underway in justa few weeks from the time of
this recording.
Here's Damian to serve up thefirst question.
Damian Bazadona (00:39):
Well, first off , us Open is one of my favorite
events.
I go every year and I know I'mnot alone in that spirit.
Let's start at 30,000 feet.
Could we zoom out a little bitinto the world of the USTA, a
little bit more of the marketingmandate and that ecosystem?
I'd love for the audience tostart with that, if you don't
mind.
Nicole Kankam (00:57):
Sure.
So the USTA is a mission-basedorganization.
Our mission is to grow tennisand make it look like America.
So that involves sort of twobusiness units.
We've got our community tennis,which is really focused on
participation.
We actually announced last yearthis very ambitious goal of
getting 35 million tennisplayers by the year 2035.
(01:19):
So that team is very muchfocused on different pillars to
help support that strategicpriority.
Then we have pro tennis, whichis where I reside.
That is our professional tennis.
That's the side of the businessthat runs the US Open that
leverages all of our pro tennisassets to drive revenue to
(01:39):
support that mission.
The US Open being the biggestone, we affectionately refer to
it as the bake sale that raisesall the funds to grow tennis.
But the US Open is also a greatopportunity to inspire tennis.
So we're very much our missionaround the US Open is to deliver
a spectacular experience forfans and inspire the next
(02:02):
generation of tennis fans.
Damian Bazadona (02:04):
And we're going to get a little bit into the
audience development.
I can tell you my own sonbringing to the US Open inspired
him to start actually playingtennis.
Nicole Kankam (02:10):
I love that.
Damian Bazadona (02:11):
Yes, I have a real focus group of one, so how
would you describe the US Openaudience For those that haven't
been able to attend and there'sa fair number of people on this
series from all over the worldhow would you describe the US
Open experience and the US Openaudience, I suppose?
Nicole Kankam (02:26):
Yeah, yeah.
So just overall, the coredemographics of the audience.
You know where.
It is very educated, veryaffluent.
You know 80 plus percent ofattendees have at least a
bachelor's degree or more.
You know six-figure household,six-figure plus really household
income.
It is fairly diverse.
A third of our audienceidentifies as a person of color.
(02:49):
About half of our audiencecomes from the tri-state area
but the other half comes fromwell outside that,
representative of throughout thecountry and also
internationally.
We're sort of bouncing back fromthe pandemic.
So pre-pandemic it could havebeen upwards of 20 to 25 percent
international audience.
Now we're hovering around 10 to12 percent international and
(03:10):
slowly building that back.
But it is.
It's a fluent, educated, butit's very diverse.
Compared to other sportingevents it's really more balanced
female, male.
So it's pretty even splitbetween male and female and
there's some variety between thehardcore tennis fans.
I mean we do know that half ofour audience that comes to the
(03:31):
US Open plays tennis, but theother half may not play tennis
Again.
We're looking to convert thoseinto tennis players, tennis fans
, but they can be anywhere frompeople that are just
entertainment seekers.
So this is their annualtradition.
They come for a great event.
We get a lot of corporateclients that come out here to
(03:52):
entertain clients or do business.
But it's such a.
You know it is a great tennisevent and the tennis product is
core to that.
But because it's so much more,it really does expand the
audience beyond the tennis fan.
Damian Bazadona (04:04):
That but because it's so much more.
It really does expand theaudience beyond the tennis fan.
Take me through the thinking ofhow you think about creating
air quotes new fans into the USOpen experience, and I know I've
been watching it over the years.
This is your 19th US Open.
Is that correct?
Yes, I can't even believe it.
Oh my God.
Nicole Kankam (04:19):
And I was a baby.
Damian Bazadona (04:20):
but yes, they should do something special for
you this year, but definitelyfor your 20th, I hope you as
well.
They make something very nicefor you, just saying it out loud
.
Take me through some of thethinking and how you guys have
expanded the programming.
You've been there, you've seenenough of them and I think it's
very impressive of how you'veexpanded kind of the efforts
(04:40):
around the open at large tobuild the audience.
Take us through that.
Nicole Kankam (04:43):
Oh, thank you and thanks for saying that.
You know it really is acollaborative effort.
You know, obviously I'm drivingthe marketing and entertainment
around the US Open, but wereally think of every facet of
the US Open experience, from thepartners that we engage to the
facilities team to playeroperations.
But I would say our biggestopportunity for fan growth that
(05:04):
we've been investing in issomething called Fan Week.
So it started about eight yearsago.
It was built on something thatwas part of the US Open DNA for
years.
So the qualifying tournament,which for sports fans it's sort
of like the play-in tournamentthat happens prior to the
singles main draw, was alwaysfree free and open to the public
(05:27):
.
But it really was a time wherewe were still kind of putting
things together.
It was a little bit more behindthe scenes.
It was a secret amongsthardcore tennis fans that you
could see qualifiers competingfor the last few slots in the
main draw of the tournament andyou could get onto the site and
see that for free.
And we made the strategicdecision a number of years ago
(05:48):
to maintain that free productbut to build it out, enhance it
again, invest in the experienceso that it felt like it was part
of the US Open, fans wouldstill come onto the site for
free but feel like they were atthe US Open and experience all
this great tennis.
It's a great opportunity forfamilies to come at a more
accessible you know, from acrowd perspective but also
(06:12):
accessible price point that youcould come and experience the US
Open and maybe get a taste ofwhat it all has to offer and
then, you know, hopefullyconvert those to ticket buying
fans in the future.
But the way it's grownexponentially, I think even
surpass our expectations in sucha short period of time.
The audience has almost tripledsince we started this idea of
(06:34):
Fan Week back eight years agoand we also see, looking at the
data you know I just talkedabout the audience demographics
and we're still getting ahigh-end consumer to Fan Week.
But again, it is moreaccessible.
It is also more diverse.
So about half of the audienceidentifies as people of color
during Fan Week.
So we're really building thepipeline for fans to hopefully
(06:57):
be future tennis players butalso to be future US Open fans.
Damian Bazadona (07:01):
Did you have?
Was there concern about, whenyou offered free programming,
that it could cannibalizeattendance to paid programming?
Nicole Kankam (07:12):
In a word yes, there were very strong concerns
about that and you know it wasalso when we started, at a time
where the US Open definitely hasbecome a cultural phenomenon
and we sell out most of ourtickets but we work hard to sell
all those tickets.
And so at the time when we wereintroducing a free product that
(07:33):
maybe could have been on par toour main draw product, there
were definitely folks on therevenue side that were concerned
that we were giving away ourproduct for free, that we were
promoting a free product thatpeople would choose over the
main draw and you know it was ahefty investment that we were
making, that we were notgenerating immediate revenue
(07:53):
from that.
There were concerns across theorganization on whether that was
a wise investment.
But I can stand here and sithere and say that it absolutely
has paid off.
You know, what we saw in thoseearly years is that actually
people came to Fan Week and thenwanted to come back to Main
Draw and then wanted to comeback to main draw.
As a matter of fact, two-thirdswhen we surveyed fans to fan
week, two-thirds of the audiencethat were coming for fan week
(08:17):
said I'm coming back for maindraw and only half of those had
already bought their tickets.
So some people came.
They had already bought theirtickets for main draw but they
wanted to come experience fanweek.
Some people came to fan weekand had such a great experience
that they wanted to buy ticketsand come back for the main draw.
And in addition to that, I thinkyou know the added promotion
(08:38):
around and building hype up forthe US Open.
You know, during Fan Week youcan see the players' practices.
They're getting ready.
So if you're seeing thisamazing player that maybe you
hadn't heard of before and yousee them playing up close and
personal, you want to buy aticket to come see them in the
competition.
So that added promotion justcreated a great runway into our
(09:00):
main draw.
Damian Bazadona (09:01):
That really boosted ticket sales as well I
think you could see in theresults.
Um, it just seems that way, um,and I think it's, and I'm
assuming as it grows it's goingto continue to grow and I'm sure
me, even more.
Like, how do you hold itmeasurable over time?
Because you're going to investmore into it, you're going to
see more expense and output andall this stuff.
But I just think, instinctually, the way that I see it, I just
(09:22):
think it's genius and I wishmore brands did it, because if
you're trying to invite newpeople into the tent that may
not be familiar with it, youhave to remove all the barriers
to do that and let the productspeak for itself, absolutely.
Nicole Kankam (09:32):
But it's.
You know it can be a scaryconcerning thing because it's
not for the faint of heart andit also does take significant
investment and you know, beingable to have the appetite, to
know that you want to build overtime.
I think you have to have theleadership committed to that.
The other you talked aboutmeasurement and you know one of
(09:52):
the things that we do.
So, again, we're welcoming fansonto the grounds for free, but
we have something in placecalled Fan Access Pass where
fans can register for a digitalticket to enhance their
experience while on site.
Again, it's totally free, it'san opportunity to win prizes and
there's lots of incentives forfans to sign up for it.
But that's our data capturemechanism.
(10:14):
So we're utilizing that data tofind out about the audience,
audience demographics, what arethey enjoying, through surveys,
and then we're also using thatdata to then market for ticket
sales and we are tracking overtime how that is also growing
our audience and we can see therevenue that's generated.
I mean, the return oninvestment is, you know, I would
(10:35):
say, tenfold, if not more.
Damian Bazadona (10:38):
Yeah, peter, I know we have some questions
coming in.
Just one thing I want to diveinto a little bit and I know a
lot of brands on this webinar orthis is interesting to them is
the idea of kind of legacy andtradition versus expanding a new
audience that does not knowthat legacy and tradition and I
think tennis is steeped in thisI think it's one of the few
sports where everything goes shhand they get quiet together.
(11:00):
How do you think about that?
And I think, as you've grown,you said half the audience I'm
going to call them play tennisand half are just there and
you're building the audience.
How do you navigate that sortof tension of staying true to
legacy and tradition, creatingnew legacies and traditions for
new audiences and how they'rethinking about it?
Nicole Kankam (11:20):
Take me into that world because that just sounds
exciting.
I know it's very tricky, it isa big challenge and you know
it's not just the fans thatreally believe.
You know that they own thesport and they own this event
and the traditionalists.
And again, we know so many fansmake this their annual
tradition that they come year inand year out.
We hear from them They've beencoming for, you know, decades.
(11:41):
But there's also, you know,internal organization and
leadership that understand andwant to preserve that history
and that tradition.
You know, I think the greatthing about the US Open is that
our legacy is innovation.
So we have a tradition ofinnovating within the sport,
especially in comparison to someof our Grand Slam brethren.
(12:04):
You know we were the first oneto change our courts to blue, to
introduce electronic linecalling, to bring more
entertainment, to bring morecelebrity to, you know, sort of
expand beyond just the tennisproduct.
And so having that history andthat tradition of wanting to
push the boundaries a little bit, I think works in our favor.
(12:25):
But that's not to say that wearen't without, you know, some
tension when it comes tobringing in new voices and
bringing in new personalitiesand also trying new things.
This year we're reimagining themixed doubles championship in a
way that's never been donebefore.
There's been a lot of chatterabout it from tennis players,
(12:47):
from traditionals in the sport,but what I can say is we stand
firm in our desire to innovate,to push the sport forward.
We're going to try some newthings.
You know, if you don't try, ifyou don't, you know, stand for
change, then you know you're aptto die.
So, yeah, so we're balancingthat right.
(13:08):
And so, even with thisreimagining of the mixed doubles
championship, that right, andand so, even with this
reimagining of the mixed doubleschampionship, we've moved it to
week one, fan week of the USOpen.
It allows us to put a spotlighton it, and we've brought in the
biggest stars in tennis thatare going to be competing for it
, and we're really excited aboutthat.
So we'll we'll see how thisgoes.
But we also then have theproduct that people know and
(13:30):
love and those traditions thatwe're maintaining, and so I
think we're able to hold on tosome of those while still
pushing the sport forward.
Peter Yagecic (13:41):
Fandom Unpacked is brought to you by Situation,
an award-winning marketingagency built for live
entertainment that champions thepower of unforgettable shared
experiences around the world.
We offer full marketing andcreative services for
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Check us out atsituationinteractivecom.
(14:02):
Now back to our Q&A.
Peter, yeah, I'm going to tryto sneak in too real quick
because we've got some greataudience questions coming in.
The first one.
I want to go back to Fan Weekfor a second, and first of all I
just want to make sure that ouraudience knows so that begins
Monday, august 18th this year.
(14:23):
That's right, fantastic.
So I just wanted to make sureeverybody who wants to check it
out can do so.
Nicole Kankam (14:29):
That's totally free.
Peter Yagecic (14:30):
So the question was you said that Fan Week and
qualifying play used to be moreof a behind-the-curtain secret
experience, but now visitorsexpect things to be show-ready
during Fan Week.
Are there ways?
Nicole Kankam (14:49):
that you can speak to those fans who come
during Fan Week about helping tomake the party a success, like
promoting the event via socialmedia, for instance.
No, absolutely, and again, youknow, I think us adding in other
content and other experiencesand opportunities to Fan Week so
that, yes, you're seeing theproduct and the research shows
that most people are comingthere to see the qualifying
tournament, to see the playerspractice, but then adding other
enhancements.
We'll have a stage set up inthe Fountain Plaza where we'll
have players that once theypractice and they come on the
(15:10):
stage and you kind of get to seeanother side of them, we'll
have performances there on site.
You know, I thinkorganizationally we've been
focused on the US Open starts onAugust 18th.
So we're ready and we'rewanting to ensure that fans that
come on site get that full USOpen experience.
We're also having a little bitof fun by adding these other
(15:31):
layers.
We're introducing new this yeara silent disco on Monday night.
So it'll be a party, butbecause we have tennis and this
is where it gets to, maintainingtradition that we don't want to
be too loud while qualifyingtournament is still happening,
hence the silent disco.
We have a block party happeningon Friday night once the
qualifying tournament ends.
(15:52):
And then we also have ArthurAshe Kids Day, which is our
largest kids tennis festival.
That's been going on for morethan two decades in our Arthur
Ashe legacy and bringing kids totennis and really improving
their lives.
So you know, we're focused oncreating this great experience
to again fulfill that mission ofinspiring tennis fans.
Peter Yagecic (16:16):
Great Well, and I'm going to sneak in one more
question, but I'm going toreword it slightly because I
don't think it's fair the way itwas asked.
So the question was who is themust-see tennis star this year?
And I don't want to make youpick, because I don't think
that's fair.
Nicole Kankam (16:28):
Oh, I know, that's so not fair.
Peter Yagecic (16:30):
Is there anyone that you, in particular, are
super excited to see this year?
Nicole Kankam (16:35):
Well, of course I cannot play favorites as a USDA
employee, but I can say youknow, again, with the Mixed
Doubles Championship, all of thetop stars are going to be there
for that event in a way thatthey haven't played before, and
to see them playing, you know,men and women like Carlos
Alvarez and Emma Raducanu on ateam playing together.
That's cool, really going to beexciting.
(16:55):
Venus Williams is back.
I don't know if you've seen her.
You know there's a lot of buzzabout her winning a match at the
DC Open.
She's going to be playing atStars of the Open and she's also
entered into the Mixed DoublesChampionship as well.
So I mean it's kind of amazingto see her, after all these
years, still having this loveand passion for the sport and
(17:16):
out on the court.
But you know all the othergreat stars too.
I mean Yannick Sinner is havingan amazing summer, djokovic is
still around and, like I said,you know, to be able to see all
of those during fan week isreally exciting and a great
opportunity for people to bringout their families in a way that
(17:37):
feels more approachable Allright, so let's get into.
Damian Bazadona (17:40):
I want to talk about the advertising, and I say
that as a New Yorker and seeingthe advertising, okay, and I
think last year when I heard FatJoe as the voiceover I believe
that was last year- I was like,oh, look at that.
And what's cool about it isthat I'm also a Knicks fan, so I
just know the intersection ofall these voices.
I'm like this is a New Yorkcultural experience, this is a
(18:02):
thing to do in New York.
This is the thing to do in NewYork.
And then I saw Mustard thisyear, and so then, if you're,
this is your 19th.
I'm reinforcing that point justto talk about the longevity.
Nicole Kankam (18:13):
Yes, I know, I know, man, I'm sorry.
Damian Bazadona (18:15):
Look great so, but so take me through.
What's what's different?
How is it?
So?
Tell me where, even if we,however far you want to go back,
Want to go pre-pandemic orfurther back, Tell me what's.
I love it.
Firstly, I'm a huge fan of whatyou're doing.
Nicole Kankam (18:29):
I love it.
Damian Bazadona (18:29):
Looks awesome.
No, thank you.
Why are we doing that?
Just help get a look at the whyit has changed, right.
Nicole Kankam (18:34):
I mean, the world has changed, right.
Like how people consume media,where they're consuming media
has changed.
If we think about, you know,the audience that we're trying
to reach and future fans, weneed to meet them where they are
, to meet them where they are ina way that feels, you know,
culturally relevant and organic.
I do have to say, on the FatJoe story, it's really it's a
(19:00):
really sort of fun full circlemoment, because I started my
career in the music industry.
I worked at Atlantic Recordsmore than two decades ago when
Fat Joe was on the label, and sothat's kind of how partly how
that came together, bringing himback once, you know, looking
for an opportunity to kind ofreach back to my music roots.
But if I think about how theadvertising has changed, you
(19:22):
know, of course, what was thecenterpiece of our advertising
was the big, splashy New YorkTimes ad and the TV spot that
ran on, you know, good MorningAmerica.
And while there are somecomponents of that that still
make up our media vibe because,to your point, we have our
traditional fans that maybe areconsuming that media how we're
thinking about connecting withnew fans is thinking about our
(19:47):
content differently.
So thinking, you know, as we'recreating content that shows the
full breadth of the US Openexperience, it is very much
through a social first lens andthat video that we created works
really well in social, but italso works in TV, because even
the content that fans arewatching on TV all seems to have
(20:07):
that sort of social frenetic,you know, attention-grabbing
style that has been importantfor us to do and then, in more
recent years, aligning with aniconic New York voice or figure
or kind of infusing that sort oftangential entertainment
(20:29):
character into our advertising,has proven to be really
successful, because it allows usto one, generate more earned
media around our campaign and toextend the marketing in
channels that we may not havebeen previously, and then for
those characters to you know,sort of share to their audiences
and to show that the US Openreally is reaching a
(20:50):
cross-section of fans.
I mean, what was so excitingthis year about Mustard is to
know and to learn that he lovestennis.
He plays a couple hours a day,even as he's touring with
Kendrick Lamar and SZA.
He's finding tennis courts inevery market and playing for a
couple hours a day, and he justloves the sport, and so we'll
for sure see him at the US Open,but having him lend his voice
(21:13):
and his production chops onremixing a song for the campaign
was really a home run.
Damian Bazadona (21:19):
How do you so we get you attract a huge
audience to the Open?
How do you think about theother we'll call it the 49 weeks
of the year.
Take the three weeks out of it.
How do you think about theother 49 weeks of the year in
terms of then?
How do you kind of keep themgoing?
And it's hard.
I'm imagining, yeah, so how doyou think about that?
Nicole Kankam (21:36):
Yes, well, you know it is helpful that tennis
has a long season.
There is no real off season inthe sport and so if we think
about, you know, the othertennis events that are happening
outside of the US Open, anytimewe can find opportunities to
connect the US Open to what'shappening in Australia or in
Paris.
(21:57):
Roland Garros in the lead up tothe US Open are opportunities
for us to connect to our fanbase and again bring it back
home.
We have a long purchase cycleso even though for individual
tickets you're really justbuying in the summer, we think
back to the equivalent of ourseason ticket holders are our
full series subscribers, sowe're connecting with them.
(22:17):
You know we want to extend thehalo and the excitement around
the US Open post event, but thatcycle begins very early in the
year and we look foropportunities to be relevant and
the fact that also we've got somuch great entertainment talent
that comes to the US Open.
When that is relevant inculture and we see opportunities
(22:38):
to connect the US Open audienceto what's happening in culture,
we find those as well.
Damian Bazadona (22:43):
Peter, I know I'm hogging the questions.
There's more.
There's audience questions.
Peter Yagecic (22:46):
No well, this audience question actually is
perfect for what you just said,nicole, because it's talking
about tennis and the culture.
Do you find that tennis beingused as a character in film and
television Challengers mostrecently comes to mind.
The 2024 film helps to marketthe US Open, even if the subject
of the film isn't real lifetennis competition.
If so, how can you lean intothings like that?
Nicole Kankam (23:07):
Yes, no, that is a really great question,
especially Challengers.
We did see a lot of buzz.
I mean, having Zendaya, youknow, wearing tennis core on the
blue red carpet, you knoweverywhere she's going, is for
sure a boost to us.
So we love it and, as a matterof fact, we do look for
opportunities.
The timing of the Challengersmovie actually didn't work as
(23:30):
well as we had hoped to line upwith the US Open, but we had
planned to have a whole sort ofintegration and collaboration
with films like that.
Listen, we always want to makesure that it also upholds our
brand and so when we think andlook at movies that are doing
that, we want to make sure thatthere is brand alignment there
as well and it makes sense.
(23:51):
But a great example too thatmaybe not is tennis-related, but
just brand collaborations andopportunities what we did with
Hell's Kitchen last year andAlicia Keys, her new musical.
I think she has become a hugetennis fan, but she had her
musical coming out.
She took her signature song,kaleidoscope, and made a remix
(24:15):
that became the song of the USOpen.
So I think that tennis moviesand you know we constantly are
looking for creative ways tocollaborate and infuse that into
the culture, and when it makessense and when the timing
matches up, we're all for it.
Peter Yagecic (24:31):
Great.
Well, I'm going to sneak in onemore audience question before
kicking it back to Damian towrap us up, but you talked a
little bit about innovation andhow the USDA embraces innovation
, which I love to hear.
Are there any technologyinnovations coming along that
you think might improve the fanexperience?
Could AI, for example,supercharge the fan access pass
to give fans a more personalizedexperience, or anything that
(24:53):
you might be excited about?
Nicole Kankam (24:54):
Yes, I mean we do use AI for you know, anything
like communications through ourchat bot.
We've talked about evennavigating the grounds, as the
crowds really are surging andgetting more popular.
How can we give fans moreinformation that helps them
navigate the grounds more easilyand directs them to places
(25:14):
where they can really have anenjoyable experience?
We're looking into that,particularly this year, as we
have 17 courts and there'stennis happening all throughout
the grounds.
How can we visualize, like youknow, go to these courts where
you're going to get a greatexperience, or go have a honey
deuce at this location, becausewe know that there's a lot.
You know a shorter line, thatyou can experience that better.
(25:36):
So a lot of that is very muchon the horizon and some of that
you'll see at the US Open thisyear.
Damian Bazadona (25:44):
All right, I have one more question, but
before I say that, I just wantto say, nicole, thank you for
your time.
You are always very given withyour time and I think, the work
that you and your team are doing.
I challenge anyone to find alive event doing it better in
terms of how you're evolving thebrand truly and look at US Open
continues to just grow and growin terms of popularity Kudos
it's incredible.
(26:06):
So a lot of people on thiswebinar will not be able to
attend US Open anyS Open at anypoint in time.
What would?
How would you describe the USOpen If you would describe it in
one word?
Nicole Kankam (26:16):
Yeah.
Damian Bazadona (26:17):
The, the, the feeling of attending the US Open
.
How would you describe it topeople?
Nicole Kankam (26:23):
I know, and you know, some people have asked me,
like you've been there for 19US Opens, like does it ever get
I don't know boring or the same?
And it doesn't.
It's electric Every day all nowit'll be all 21 days that I'll
be there.
It's an electric vibe.
You know it's great.
(26:47):
It's a quintessential New YorkCity event that when you come on
site you see people from allwalks of life but they're all
having an amazing experience.
It's a vibe, but it's anelectric vibe that is fully
present throughout the threeweeks of the event.
Damian Bazadona (26:59):
I agree with you on electric.
That's what I'd describe it to.
It's my favorite event of theyear.
Peter Yagecic (27:05):
That's going to do it for this episode of Fandom
Unpacked the podcast.
If you liked what you heard,please be sure to leave us a
review on Apple Podcasts.
Find out how to join us livefor an upcoming recording at
situationlivecom slash fan.
We'll see you next time, truebelievers.
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