The USTA's Fan Week, Aug 22-27, at The US Open in Queens

Every year, The US Open is an epic sports event in sports, tennis and Queens. Kicking off the tournament, this Tuesday, August 22 to Sunday, August 27 is US Open Fan Week! The USTA’s Nicole Kankam, Managing Director, Pro Tennis Marketing and Entertainment, has details on the free events for all The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. For more, visit USopen.org.

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Welcome to Get Connected with Nina delRio, a weekly conversation about fitness,
health and happenings in our community onone oh six point seven light FM.
Good morning, and thanks for listeningto get connected. The US Open,
a huge event in sports, intennis and one of the most beloved and
exciting summer events in New York City, is August twenty eight to Sunday September

(00:25):
tenth. This coming weekend is USOpen Fan Week, when the grounds are
free and open to the public withall kinds of activities for everyone. Our
guest is USTA's Nicole CanCam, ManagingDirector pro Tennis Marketing and Entertainment, for
all the details on what's coming upat the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Nicole, thank you for being onthe show. Thank you so much

(00:46):
for having me. I'm very happyto be here. All the listings,
all the stuff that's coming up isat us Open dot org. But Nicole,
one of the first things I alwaysthink of, I think of it
as US Open season because you're gettingon the trains and for like a month
or so, you see people youknow they're going out to the tennis center.
They just look ready for tennis.You know they're kind of dressed up
for it, but I have totell you, I feel like I notice

(01:10):
until it's too late, Like I'vemissed the Fan Week, I missed the
early rounds. So I'm really happywe're having this conversation so we can get
ahead of week. Is the bestkept secret, but we don't want it
to be a secret anymore because itreally is a full, fun filled week
where you can get onto the groundsfor free. There's not really any other
sporting event. I think that createsthis much accessibility to the site for fans

(01:32):
for free, and yet it allstarts this Tuesday. So a fan Week
is something that launched really, Ithink twenty seventeen you had a couple of
years off for COVID, But whatdid you want to put forward with fan
Week? What was it thinking behindit? Well, so we've always had
the qualifying tournament that's taken place priorto the start of main draw. So
for the non tennis fan the qualifyingtournament is the opportunity for up and comers,

(01:59):
maybe players coming off of injury,to compete for the final slots into
the main draw. It's sort oflike the play in tournament for US Open
Main draw, and so that hasalways been free and if you really love
tennis, it's great to see reallycompetitive tennis matches up cults and personal.
But as we thought about, youknow, really wanting to expand and grow

(02:20):
the US Open audience and the tennisaudience in general. Now I work for
the US Tennis Association, which ourmission is to grow the sport of tennis
and make it look like America andthe US Open is the greatest showcase for
tennis for the sport, and socreating this week of activity and really reaching
out to the community to bring themin. We wanted to grow fan Week

(02:44):
to be more than just a qualifyingtournament, and so for the last several
years, as you mentioned, wehad a couple breaks because of COVID,
but we came back in full forcelast year, really investing more in content
around Fan Week so that it reallyis a festival like atmosphere throughout the week.
So you can see the qualifying tournament, but you can also see players

(03:06):
practicing, all the top level,top tier players practicing as they're getting ready
for the tournament. And we've createda number of other activities that really enhanced
the fan experience all week. Oneof the most exciting things I think is
regarding the qualifying tournament. Of courseyou're going to see a lot of new
young talent. You started with theUSTA nearly twenty years ago, so you've
seen a lot of players. Whatsorry done? Now? What do you

(03:32):
see in this? Isn't this sortof new wave of young talent? Who
or what is most exciting to you? It's great. You know, we
thought that when Serena retired and Rogerretired that there'd be this huge gap.
But when you see players like CarlosAlcarez, it's having a tremendous run this
year. He won Wimbledon, hewon the US Open last year. Players

(03:53):
like Ega Switzik that are really exciting. Coco Golf is having a great run
as well, Francis Tiafo. Therereally is a lot of excitement for the
up and coming players. Again,the qualifying tournament is a great place to
see some other up and coming players. Emmarata Kano, although she's not playing
this year, but she won intwenty twenty one coming out of the qualifying

(04:15):
tournament. So you never know whoyou're going to see in that space that
may go on to become a megastarduring a fan week. Also, they're
the featured player practices. Could youkind of see anybody out there? You
really can, So they take placein Grandstad. We try to jazz it
up a little bit with the DJand a host to interview the players so

(04:35):
you hear a little bit more fromthem and then get to see them practice
as well. But you see alltypes of pop stars. I mean,
we've had people like Titsi Pass andPaula Padosa too is a great star.
But you never know who you're goingto see. If you go to us
open dot org slash fan Week iswhere we update on a daily basis to

(04:57):
practice schedule, so you can planyour day ahead of time and see who's
practicing. And then also when yougo to us soaper dot org slash fan
Week and sign up for a fanAccess Pass, that's your free digital ticket
to enhance your experience on sites.So for the featured practices, if you
have Fan Access Pass, you geta front row seat in a sort of

(05:18):
VIP section that gets you closer tothe action. Our guest is Nicole CanCam
of the USTA talking about the upcomingUS Open and Fan Week in particular,
which is prior to the matches.It's August twenty second through August twenty seventh.
Details at us Open dot org.You're listening to get connected on one
oh six point seven Light FM.I'm Nina del Rio. Very happy to

(05:40):
report too that this is the fiftiethanniversary of the US Open becoming the first
sporting event to award equal prize moneyto men and women, which is kind
of nuts when you think about someof the other major sports, right It
really is tremendous, and I'm soproud to work for an organization that has
its long history of being a championfor gender pay equity. It was really

(06:03):
thanks to Billy Jing King. Shewas the trailblazing woman that we all know
well, she's an icon on thesport, and she pushed the organization fifty
years ago. She actually won innineteen seventy two and threatened to not come
back the next year if we weren'tpaying men and women equally, and the

(06:26):
organization, I really commend them fortaking a stand and saying, yes,
we think this is right and wewant to pay women equally. It was
years before the other Grand Slams,actually thirty plus years before all four Grand
Slams came around to that, sowe're really proud of that fact. We've
been celebrating all summer long. Sowe kicked off our campaign back in March

(06:46):
on National Equal Pay Day by unveilingthe commemorative theme art for this year's tournament.
So if you go to yosupnad Or, you'll see the artwork that features
Billy Jing King from her days backin the seventies. Beautiful piece of art
developed by a Brazilian artist, astunning piece of art that will commemorate this
year's tournament. You'll see it allacross the grounds. It's in signage you

(07:09):
mentioned about seeing in New York Cityall the advertising and promotion around the tournament,
and so that artwork really speaks tothat. Throughout the summer, we've
then been trying to take this messagearound pay equity and extend it beyond tennis.
Billy has been an inspiration for othersports. Right we know that there's
still sports fighting for pay equity acrossthe board, and so we're using this

(07:33):
opportunity to raise visibility around those issues. We're also elevating other what we call
champions of equality, so women Trailblazers. You'll see a number of first person
stories that are featured on our websiteat us Open dot org. And then
we're gonna have a big celebration intournament, beginning with opening night and a

(07:55):
ceremony to honor Billy and to commemoratethe anniversary. We have another event later
on in the tournament on Women's semifinalscalled Champions of Equality Summit that will feature
a conversation around Billy and also VenusWilliams, who helped sort of we call
her the Closer because Billy started itfifty years ago and Venus was actually the

(08:18):
one to get it done for thefinal Grand Slam at Wimbledon thirty four plus
years later. And then we're justthinking about every touch point around this year's
US Open, from small things too, for the first time having a female
announcer inside the stadium when we oftenhear male announcers, having an all female
ball crew on opening night, tocollecting the balls on cord, and you'll

(08:41):
see all across the grounds opportunities wherewe're bringing to light women that have been
pioneers in our sport and beyond.It's kind of an incredible message and I
do think to your point of pushingit beyond tennis, I think that's really
important. The US Open also hasthe social impact campaign b open. Can
you talk about that and the diversityand equity and inclusion efforts of the US

(09:03):
Tennis Association. Again, we've hadthis long history of wanting to put forth
equity, to show our sport tobe inclusive. We launched this be Open
campaign a few years ago in amoment of crisis, right, it was
during the pandemic. It was duringa time when racial issues were really coming
to the forefront. But I'm happythat this has been an ongoing now part

(09:26):
of who the US Open and whatthe US Open platform is. The campaign
has evolved to be truly integrated intoour overall d and I efforts around making
the sport inclusive and accessible. Andso now be Open is really about ensuring
that diverse audiences are seen and celebratedat the US Open. So we have
a number of different events and programsthat happen throughout the year. You can

(09:48):
find all of this at us opendot org, slash b open, things
like HBCU Live where we're celebrating historicallyblack colleges and universities kind of bringing the
yard experience from those colleges to theus Open. We have an Open Pride
Day where we celebrate the LGBTQ community. We have other activations in support of

(10:11):
the Latin communities where we'll have differentgroups like Ballet Hispanico will be performing at
our Fan Week center stage. Wehave integration with the API audiences where when
Fan Week starts this Tuesday, we'llhave the traditional Red Dragon Dance to kick
off the tournament on Tuesday, sothat should be exciting. So again,

(10:31):
it's really about celebrating diverse audiences,showing our sport to be inclusive. There
will also be an experience on sitecalled the Equity Experience, where you can
come at any time during the tournamentand learn more about the usca's diversity initiatives.
There is a lot going on duringthis week. There is the Stars

(10:52):
of the Open Exhibition, there isthe Flavors of the Open Exhibition. We
only have a few minutes left,so let's talk quickly about the Arthur Ash
Kids Day on Saturday. That isa huge event. You set records last
year, Oh, we absolutely did. It's the largest grassroots tennis festival.
It's all about getting rackets in kidshands and getting the kids out on the
court making them active. This yearwe are getting rackets in kids hands by

(11:16):
thanks to our longtime partner Wilson,we'll be giving away ten thousand rackets over
the course of the day and quitea few on Arthur ash Kids say directly,
if you go to you a soapendot org, sign up for fan
Access pass and that's where you'll beable to make a reservation for to pick
up junior rackets or rackets for yourkids too per household. But it's a

(11:37):
great way to get more kids playingtennis, which is what we're all about.
And as far as adults playing tennis, there's so many. You know,
the racket sports are kind of hugeright now. So you said one
of the things USTA wants to dois get more rackets into adults hands.
So what we need to know aboutthat. Well, again, if if
you come to the tournament, wealso have what's called a red ball activation,

(11:58):
so this is using a different ballthat's more for beginners, but it's
not just for kids, it's foradults as well. And once you're on
site, you can sign up formore information about USCA programs and how to
play tennis in your local area.So fan Week is free. Nicole mentioned
signing up for the fan Access passat us Open dot org. Can you
talk briefly about getting tickets to themain event, the tournament that begins on

(12:20):
Monday, August twenty eighth. Yes. Well, also you'll find ticket information
at us Open dot org. Ticketinventory is limited because we've had such great
excitement around the event. I mean, we've been selling well ahead of last
year, and last year was aband a year as well. But I
encourage you to keep checking back fora ticket availability us open dot org or

(12:43):
ticket Master. But there are ticketsto our fan Week events. So while
everything at fan Week is free.You mentioned Stars of the Open. That's
our tennis exhibition this Wednesday. Alot of these top tennis players are going
to be out there on the courtand a fun tennis exhibition. Tickets are
very pable, beginning at twenty fivedollars and the proceeds will benefit Ukraine humanitarian

(13:05):
relief. Flavors of the Open ticketsare still available. That's our food festival,
all of our top celebrity chefs.We've got nine celebrity chefs that are
going to be there doing food demonstrations, serving up their signature dishes that you
find at the US Open, andthe proceeds for that event go to our
ust foundation helping under resource kids,bringing tennis and education to those communities.

(13:28):
It is a packed week. It'sreally affordable or free depending on what you're
doing, and really easy to getto the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center.
You can find out more at usOpen dot org. Nicole CanCam is
from the USTA. The US OpenFan Week starts Tuesday. Thanks for joining
me on get Connected. Thank youso much for having me. It really

(13:50):
was a pleasure. This has beenGet Connected with Nina del Rio on one
of six point seven Lightfm. Theviews and opinions of our guests do not
necessarily reflective us at the station.If you missed any part of our show
or want to share it, visitour website for downloads and podcasts at one
oh six seven lightfm dot com.Thanks for listening.