Fandom Unpacked

Serving the Future: How the US Open Became a Culture-First Sports Brand

• Situation • Season 1 • Episode 14

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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

Peter Yagecic:

You're listening to Fandom Unpacked the podcast, an audio version of our regular live stream series where we unpack modern fandom with some of the brightest minds in sports and entertainment. I'm producer Peter Jicic, and joining me for today's Q&A is Situation's CEO and founder, damian Bazadana. Our guest today is Nicole Cancam, managing Director of Pro Tennis Marketing and Entertainment at the United States Tennis Association. The USTA owns and operates the US Open Tennis Championships, which will get underway in just a few weeks from the time of this recording. Here's Damian to serve up the first question.

Damian Bazadona:

Well, first off, us Open is one of my favorite events. I go every year and I know I'm not alone in that spirit. Let's start at 30,000 feet. Could we zoom out a little bit into the world of the USTA, a little bit more of the marketing mandate and that ecosystem? I'd love for the audience to start with that, if you don't mind.

Nicole Kankam:

Sure. So the USTA is a mission-based organization. Our mission is to grow tennis and make it look like America. So that involves sort of two business units. We've got our community tennis, which is really focused on participation. We actually announced last year this very ambitious goal of getting 35 million tennis players by the year 2035. So that team is very much focused on different pillars to help support that strategic priority. Then we have pro tennis, which is where I reside. That is our professional tennis. That's the side of the business that runs the US Open that leverages all of our pro tennis assets to drive revenue to support that mission. The US Open being the biggest one, we affectionately refer to it as the bake sale that raises all the funds to grow tennis. But the US Open is also a great opportunity to inspire tennis. So we're very much our mission around the US Open is to deliver a spectacular experience for fans and inspire the next generation of tennis fans.

Damian Bazadona:

And we're going to get a little bit into the audience development. I can tell you my own son bringing to the US Open inspired him to start actually playing tennis.

Nicole Kankam:

I love that.

Damian Bazadona:

Yes, I have a real focus group of one, so how would you describe the US Open audience For those that haven't been able to attend and there's a fair number of people on this series from all over the world how would you describe the US Open experience and the US Open audience, I suppose?

Nicole Kankam:

Yeah, yeah. So just overall, the core demographics of the audience. You know where. It is very educated, very affluent. You know 80 plus percent of attendees 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 audience identifies as a person of color. About half of our audience comes from the tri-state area but the other half comes from well outside that, representative of throughout the country and also internationally.

Nicole Kankam:

We're sort of bouncing back from the pandemic. So pre-pandemic it could have been upwards of 20 to 25 percent international audience. Now we're hovering around 10 to 12 percent international and slowly building that back. But it is. It's a fluent, educated, but it's very diverse. Compared to other sporting events it's really more balanced female, male. So it's pretty even split between male and female and there's some variety between the hardcore tennis fans. I mean we do know that half of our audience that comes to the US Open plays tennis, but the other half may not play tennis Again. We're looking to convert those into tennis players, tennis fans, but they can be anywhere from people that are just entertainment seekers. So this is their annual tradition. They come for a great event. We get a lot of corporate clients that come out here to entertain clients or do business. But it's such a. You know it is a great tennis event 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:

That but because it's so much more. It really does expand the audience beyond the tennis fan. Take me through the thinking of how you think about creating air quotes new fans into the US Open 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:

And I was a baby.

Damian Bazadona:

but yes, they should do something special for you this year, but definitely for your 20th, I hope you as well. They make something very nice for you, just saying it out loud. Take me through some of the thinking and how you guys have expanded the programming. You've been there, you've seen enough of them and I think it's very impressive of how you've expanded kind of the efforts around the open at large to build the audience. Take us through that.

Nicole Kankam:

Oh, thank you and thanks for saying that. You know it really is a collaborative effort. You know, obviously I'm driving the marketing and entertainment around the US Open, but we really think of every facet of the US Open experience, from the partners that we engage to the facilities team to player operations. But I would say our biggest opportunity for fan growth that we've been investing in is something called Fan Week. So it started about eight years ago. It was built on something that was part of the US Open DNA for years.

Nicole Kankam:

So the qualifying tournament, which for sports fans it's sort of like the play-in tournament that happens prior to the singles main draw, was always free free and open to the public. But it really was a time where we were still kind of putting things together. It was a little bit more behind the scenes. It was a secret amongst hardcore tennis fans that you could see qualifiers competing for the last few slots in the main draw of the tournament and you could get onto the site and see that for free. And we made the strategic decision a number of years ago to maintain that free product but to build it out, enhance it again, invest in the experience so that it felt like it was part of the US Open, fans would still come onto the site for free but feel like they were at the US Open and experience all this great tennis. It's a great opportunity for families to come at a more accessible you know, from a crowd perspective but also accessible price point that you could come and experience the US Open and maybe get a taste of what it all has to offer and then, you know, hopefully convert those to ticket buying fans in the future.

Nicole Kankam:

But the way it's grown exponentially, I think even surpass our expectations in such a short period of time. The audience has almost tripled since we started this idea of Fan Week back eight years ago and we also see, looking at the data you know I just talked about the audience demographics and we're still getting a high-end consumer to Fan Week. But again, it is more accessible. It is also more diverse. So about half of the audience identifies as people of color during Fan Week. So we're really building the pipeline for fans to hopefully be future tennis players but also to be future US Open fans.

Damian Bazadona:

Did you have? Was there concern about, when you offered free programming, that it could cannibalize attendance to paid programming?

Nicole Kankam:

In a word yes, there were very strong concerns about that and you know it was also when we started, at a time where the US Open definitely has become a cultural phenomenon and we sell out most of our tickets but we work hard to sell all those tickets. And so at the time when we were introducing a free product that maybe could have been on par to our main draw product, there were definitely folks on the revenue side that were concerned that we were giving away our product for free, that we were promoting a free product that people would choose over the main draw and you know it was a hefty investment that we were making, that we were not generating immediate revenue from that. There were concerns across the organization on whether that was a wise investment. But I can stand here and sit here and say that it absolutely has paid off.

Nicole Kankam:

You know, what we saw in those early years is that actually people came to Fan Week and then wanted to come back to Main Draw and then wanted to come back to main draw. As a matter of fact, two-thirds when we surveyed fans to fan week, two-thirds of the audience that were coming for fan week said I'm coming back for main draw and only half of those had already bought their tickets. So some people came. They had already bought their tickets for main draw but they wanted to come experience fan week. Some people came to fan week and had such a great experience that they wanted to buy tickets and come back for the main draw.

Nicole Kankam:

And in addition to that, I think you know the added promotion around and building hype up for the US Open. You know, during Fan Week you can see the players' practices. They're getting ready. So if you're seeing this amazing player that maybe you hadn't heard of before and you see them playing up close and personal, you want to buy a ticket to come see them in the competition. So that added promotion just created a great runway into our main draw.

Damian Bazadona:

That really boosted ticket sales as well I think you could see in the results. Um, it just seems that way, um, and I think it's, and I'm assuming as it grows it's going to continue to grow and I'm sure me, even more. Like, how do you hold it measurable over time? Because you're going to invest more into it, you're going to see more expense and output and all this stuff. But I just think, instinctually, the way that I see it, I just think it's genius and I wish more brands did it, because if you're trying to invite new people into the tent that may not be familiar with it, you have to remove all the barriers to do that and let the product speak for itself, absolutely.

Nicole Kankam:

But it's.

Nicole Kankam:

You know it can be a scary concerning thing because it's not for the faint of heart and it also does take significant investment and you know, being able to have the appetite, to know that you want to build over time.

Nicole Kankam:

I think you have to have the leadership committed to that. The other you talked about measurement and you know one of the things that we do. So, again, we're welcoming fans onto the grounds for free, but we have something in place called Fan Access Pass where fans can register for a digital ticket to enhance their experience while on site. Again, it's totally free, it's an opportunity to win prizes and there's lots of incentives for fans to sign up for it. But that's our data capture mechanism. So we're utilizing that data to find out about the audience, audience demographics, what are they enjoying, through surveys, and then we're also using that data to then market for ticket sales and we are tracking over time how that is also growing our audience and we can see the revenue that's generated. I mean, the return on investment is, you know, I would say, tenfold, if not more.

Damian Bazadona:

Yeah, peter, I know we have some questions coming in. Just one thing I want to dive into a little bit and I know a lot of brands on this webinar or this is interesting to them is the idea of kind of legacy and tradition versus expanding a new audience that does not know that legacy and tradition and I think tennis is steeped in this I think it's one of the few sports where everything goes shh and they get quiet together. 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 tennis and half are just there and you're building the audience. How do you navigate that sort of tension of staying true to legacy and tradition, creating new legacies and traditions for new audiences and how they're thinking about it?

Nicole Kankam:

Take me into that world because that just sounds exciting. I know it's very tricky, it is a big challenge and you know it's not just the fans that really believe. You know that they own the sport and they own this event and the traditionalists. And again, we know so many fans make this their annual tradition that they come year in and year out. We hear from them They've been coming for, you know, decades. But there's also, you know, internal organization and leadership that understand and want to preserve that history and that tradition.

Nicole Kankam:

You know, I think the great thing about the US Open is that our legacy is innovation. So we have a tradition of innovating within the sport, especially in comparison to some of our Grand Slam brethren. You know we were the first one to change our courts to blue, to introduce electronic line calling, to bring more entertainment, to bring more celebrity to, you know, sort of expand beyond just the tennis product. And so having that history and that tradition of wanting to push the boundaries a little bit, I think works in our favor. But that's not to say that we aren't without, you know, some tension when it comes to bringing in new voices and bringing in new personalities and also trying new things.

Nicole Kankam:

This year we're reimagining the mixed doubles championship in a way that's never been done before. There's been a lot of chatter about it from tennis players, 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 new things. You know, if you don't try, if you don't, you know, stand for change, then you know you're apt to die. So, yeah, so we're balancing that right. And so, even with this reimagining of the mixed doubles championship, that right, and and so, even with this reimagining of the mixed doubles championship, we've moved it to week one, fan week of the US Open. It allows us to put a spotlight on it, and we've brought in the biggest stars in tennis that are going to be competing for it, and we're really excited about that. So we'll we'll see how this goes. But we also then have the product that people know and love and those traditions that we're maintaining, and so I think we're able to hold on to some of those while still pushing the sport forward.

Peter Yagecic:

Fandom Unpacked is brought to you by Situation, an award-winning marketing agency built for live entertainment that champions the power of unforgettable shared experiences around the world. We offer full marketing and creative services for experience-based brands in live entertainment, attractions, theater, sports, arts and culture, and more. Check us out at situationinteractivecom. Now back to our Q&A. Peter, yeah, I'm going to try to sneak in too real quick because we've got some great audience questions coming in. The first one. I want to go back to Fan Week for a second, and first of all I just want to make sure that our audience knows so that begins Monday, august 18th this year. That's right, fantastic. So I just wanted to make sure everybody who wants to check it out can do so.

Nicole Kankam:

That's totally free.

Peter Yagecic:

So the question was you said that Fan Week and qualifying play used to be more of a behind-the-curtain secret experience, but now visitors expect things to be show-ready during Fan Week. Are there ways?

Nicole Kankam:

that you can speak to those fans who come during Fan Week about helping to make the party a success, like promoting the event via social media, for instance. No, absolutely, and again, you know, I think us adding in other content and other experiences and opportunities to Fan Week so that, yes, you're seeing the product and the research shows that most people are coming there to see the qualifying tournament, to see the players practice, but then adding other enhancements. We'll have a stage set up in the Fountain Plaza where we'll have players that once they practice and they come on the stage and you kind of get to see another side of them, we'll have performances there on site. You know, I think organizationally we've been focused on the US Open starts on August 18th. So we're ready and we're wanting to ensure that fans that come on site get that full US Open experience.

Nicole Kankam:

We're also having a little bit of fun by adding these other layers. We're introducing new this year a silent disco on Monday night. So it'll be a party, but because we have tennis and this is where it gets to, maintaining tradition that we don't want to be too loud while qualifying tournament is still happening, hence the silent disco. We have a block party happening on Friday night once the qualifying tournament ends. And then we also have Arthur Ashe Kids Day, which is our largest kids tennis festival. That's been going on for more than two decades in our Arthur Ashe legacy and bringing kids to tennis and really improving their lives. So you know, we're focused on creating this great experience to again fulfill that mission of inspiring tennis fans.

Peter Yagecic:

Great Well, and I'm going to sneak in one more question, but I'm going to reword it slightly because I don't think it's fair the way it was asked. So the question was who is the must-see tennis star this year? And I don't want to make you pick, because I don't think that's fair.

Nicole Kankam:

Oh, I know, that's so not fair.

Peter Yagecic:

Is there anyone that you, in particular, are super excited to see this year?

Nicole Kankam:

Well, of course I cannot play favorites as a USDA employee, but I can say you know, again, with the Mixed Doubles Championship, all of the top stars are going to be there for that event in a way that they haven't played before, and to see them playing, you know, men and women like Carlos Alvarez and Emma Raducanu on a team playing together.

Nicole Kankam:

That's cool, really going to be exciting. Venus Williams is back. I don't know if you've seen her. You know there's a lot of buzz about her winning a match at the DC Open. She's going to be playing at Stars of the Open and she's also entered into the Mixed Doubles Championship as well. So I mean it's kind of amazing to see her, after all these years, still having this love and passion for the sport and out on the court. But you know all the other great stars too. I mean Yannick Sinner is having an amazing summer, djokovic is still around and, like I said, you know, to be able to see all of those during fan week is really exciting and a great opportunity for people to bring out their families in a way that feels more approachable All right, so let's get into.

Damian Bazadona:

I want to talk about the advertising, and I say that as a New Yorker and seeing the advertising, okay, and I think last year when I heard Fat Joe as the voiceover I believe that was last year- I was like, oh, look at that. And what's cool about it is that I'm also a Knicks fan, so I just know the intersection of all these voices.

Damian Bazadona:

I'm like this is a New York cultural experience, this is a thing to do in New York. This is the thing to do in New York. And then I saw Mustard this year, and so then, if you're, this is your 19th. I'm reinforcing that point just to talk about the longevity.

Nicole Kankam:

Yes, I know, I know, man, I'm sorry.

Damian Bazadona:

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 or further back, Tell me what's. I love it. Firstly, I'm a huge fan of what you're doing.

Nicole Kankam:

I love it.

Damian Bazadona:

Looks awesome. No, thank you. Why are we doing that? Just help get a look at the why it has changed, right.

Nicole Kankam:

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, we need to meet them where they are, to meet them where they are in a way that feels, you know, culturally relevant and organic. I do have to say, on the Fat Joe story, it's really it's a really sort of fun full circle moment, because I started my career in the music industry. I worked at Atlantic Records more than two decades ago when Fat Joe was on the label, and so that's kind of how partly how that came together, bringing him back once, you know, looking for an opportunity to kind of reach back to my music roots. But if I think about how the advertising has changed, you know, of course, what was the centerpiece of our advertising was the big, splashy New York Times ad and the TV spot that ran on, you know, good Morning America.

Nicole Kankam:

And while there are some components of that that still make up our media vibe because, to your point, we have our traditional fans that maybe are consuming that media how we're thinking about connecting with new fans is thinking about our content differently.

Nicole Kankam:

So thinking, you know, as we're creating content that shows the full breadth of the US Open experience, it is very much through a social first lens and that video that we created works really well in social, but it also works in TV, because even the content that fans are watching on TV all seems to have that sort of social frenetic, you know, attention-grabbing style that has been important for us to do and then, in more recent years, aligning with an iconic New York voice or figure or kind of infusing that sort of tangential entertainment character into our advertising, has proven to be really successful, because it allows us to one, generate more earned media around our campaign and to extend the marketing in channels that we may not have been previously, and then for those characters to you know, sort of share to their audiences and to show that the US Open really is reaching a cross-section of fans.

Nicole Kankam:

I mean, what was so exciting this year about Mustard is to know and to learn that he loves tennis. He plays a couple hours a day, even as he's touring with Kendrick Lamar and SZA. He's finding tennis courts in every market and playing for a couple hours a day, and he just loves the sport, and so we'll for sure see him at the US Open, but having him lend his voice and his production chops on remixing a song for the campaign was really a home run.

Damian Bazadona:

How do you so we get you attract a huge audience to the Open? How do you think about the other we'll call it the 49 weeks of the year. Take the three weeks out of it. How do you think about the other 49 weeks of the year in terms of then? How do you kind of keep them going? And it's hard. I'm imagining, yeah, so how do you think about that?

Nicole Kankam:

Yes, well, you know it is helpful that tennis has a long season.

Nicole Kankam:

There is no real off season in the sport and so if we think about, you know, the other tennis events that are happening outside of the US Open, anytime we can find opportunities to connect the US Open to what's happening in Australia or in Paris. Roland Garros in the lead up to the US Open are opportunities for us to connect to our fan base and again bring it back home. We have a long purchase cycle so even though for individual tickets you're really just buying in the summer, we think back to the equivalent of our season ticket holders are our full series subscribers, so we're connecting with them. You know we want to extend the halo and the excitement around the US Open post event, but that cycle begins very early in the year and we look for opportunities to be relevant and the fact that also we've got so much great entertainment talent that comes to the US Open. When that is relevant in culture and we see opportunities to connect the US Open audience to what's happening in culture, we find those as well.

Damian Bazadona:

Peter, I know I'm hogging the questions. There's more. There's audience questions.

Peter Yagecic:

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 being used as a character in film and television Challengers most recently comes to mind. The 2024 film helps to market the US Open, even if the subject of the film isn't real life tennis competition. If so, how can you lean into things like that?

Nicole Kankam:

Yes, no, that is a really great question, especially Challengers. We did see a lot of buzz. I mean, having Zendaya, you know, wearing tennis core on the blue red carpet, you know everywhere she's going, is for sure a boost to us. So we love it and, as a matter of fact, we do look for opportunities.

Nicole Kankam:

The timing of the Challengers movie actually didn't work as well as we had hoped to line up with the US Open, but we had planned to have a whole sort of integration and collaboration with films like that. Listen, we always want to make sure that it also upholds our brand and so when we think and look at movies that are doing that, we want to make sure that there is brand alignment there as well and it makes sense. But a great example too that maybe not is tennis-related, but just brand collaborations and opportunities what we did with Hell's Kitchen last year and Alicia Keys, her new musical. I think she has become a huge tennis fan, but she had her musical coming out. She took her signature song, kaleidoscope, and made a remix that became the song of the US Open. So I think that tennis movies and you know we constantly are looking for creative ways to collaborate and infuse that into the culture, and when it makes sense and when the timing matches up, we're all for it.

Peter Yagecic:

Great. Well, I'm going to sneak in one more audience question before kicking it back to Damian to wrap us up, but you talked a little bit about innovation and how the USDA embraces innovation, which I love to hear. Are there any technology innovations coming along that you think might improve the fan experience? Could AI, for example, supercharge the fan access pass to give fans a more personalized experience, or anything that you might be excited about?

Nicole Kankam:

Yes, I mean we do use AI for you know, anything like communications through our chat bot. We've talked about even navigating the grounds, as the crowds really are surging and getting more popular. How can we give fans more information that helps them navigate the grounds more easily and directs them to places where they can really have an enjoyable experience? We're looking into that, particularly this year, as we have 17 courts and there's tennis happening all throughout the grounds. How can we visualize, like you know, go to these courts where you're going to get a great experience, or go have a honey deuce at this location, because we know that there's a lot. You know a shorter line, that you can experience that better. So a lot of that is very much on the horizon and some of that you'll see at the US Open this year.

Damian Bazadona:

All right, I have one more question, but before I say that, I just want to say, nicole, thank you for your time. You are always very given with your time and I think, the work that you and your team are doing. I challenge anyone to find a live event doing it better in terms of how you're evolving the brand truly and look at US Open continues to just grow and grow in terms of popularity Kudos it's incredible. So a lot of people on this webinar will not be able to attend US Open anyS Open at any point in time. What would? How would you describe the US Open If you would describe it in one word?

Nicole Kankam:

Yeah.

Damian Bazadona:

The, the, the feeling of attending the US Open. How would you describe it to people?

Nicole Kankam:

I know, and you know, some people have asked me, like you've been there for 19 US Opens, like does it ever get I don't know boring or the same? And it doesn't. It's electric Every day all now it'll be all 21 days that I'll be there. It's an electric vibe. You know it's great. It's a quintessential New York City event that when you come on site you see people from all walks of life but they're all having an amazing experience. It's a vibe, but it's an electric vibe that is fully present throughout the three weeks of the event.

Damian Bazadona:

I agree with you on electric. That's what I'd describe it to. It's my favorite event of the year.

Peter Yagecic:

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 live for an upcoming recording at situationlivecom slash fan. We'll see you next time, true believers.