Three Things I Learned In SaaS, Sports, Tech, & Live Events
What I learned at the 2024 US Open of Tennis
Three Things I Learned About Sports Business at the US Open in 2024
The US Open is booming
Our timelines are full of inflation.
Everyone is setting a "record" these days. Even though it's virtually impossible not to with the inflation we've had in currency and in how sports measures engagement.
But the US Open is different. It really is growing exponentially.
We've been going to and supporting the event for over a decade and the change in the event, the demand around it, and its stature among the corporate entertainment crowd has exploded in the past five years. It's a case study on how to tastefully grow an event without overdoing or watering down the offerings.Find a megaphone
We all know who Michael Wilbon, Brian Windhorst and Tony Kornheiser are. They're incredibly talented at their jobs and are household names to sports television watchers.
But talent needs a megaphone.
Windhorst got that megaphone when LeBron was drafted by the Cavaliers- in Cleveland, where Brian was a beat writer.
Kornheiser wrote his "Bandwagon" columns about the then-called-the-Redskins 1991 Super Bowl run. He worked with Wilbon, who was the top sports columnist.
All three were tremendous talents, and circumstance amplified their voices so we could appreciate them.
I've been in the sports business for 25 years. It's no different.
Careers have been launched into the stratosphere by LeBron, Curry, Brady, and now Caitlin.
Are the people who were there when those athletes joined their team that good? Yes. I know them. But their experience got amplified.
Get on the rocket ship.Buy low and never let go - the sponsorship Valhalla.
Sitting in the bowl at the Open, one of our guests asked about the sponsors and how long they'd been there.
We have a very large contingent at the Open. A number of our sponsors use our software to manage their tickets and suites. But we also have customers who are direct competitors of the sponsors who buy a ton of tickets to the event.
The sponsors got their names there first. Everyone else is trying not to be left behind.
Now that's a category exclusivity worth paying for - when your logo is prominent at an event, your competition is entertaining at heavily.Bonus one: It's not "allergies." You're sick. Don’t bring those "allergies" to the event.