NEW YORK—While 2019's U.S. Open drew a record-setting attendance of more than 540,000 people, this year's event will—unsurprisingly—look a bit different: The tennis tournament, which runs from Aug. 31 to Sept. 13, will be played without spectators. Instead, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center will be filled with a scrim to hide the empty seats, plus nine large LED screens displaying scores and announcements.
While we still look forward to seeing tennis's greatest athletes duke it out, we'll surely be missing the engaging sponsor activations and satellite events that typically engage the crowd. So we're taking a look back at previous years, and getting inspired by colorful, eye-catching ideas from brands like American Express, Mercedes-Benz, Nike, and Grey Goose.
U.S. Open 2019
For its 26th year of partnership with the U.S. Open in 2019, American Express worked with Momentum Worldwide to create an interactive fan experience at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The experience paid homage to the sporting event’s home of New York, with a variety of interactive stations that replicated aspects of the city. Stations included Borough Ball, a game of pong that allows fans to become players on a game board, designed to reflect each of New York’s boroughs. Another station featured digital murals, designed by Brooklyn-based artist Askew One, where fans could use digital spray paint cans to create their own art.
Photo: Brad Barket/Getty Images
A replica of the Empire State Building, created with tennis nets, included a neon hashtag sign surrounded by hanging tennis balls.
Photo: Brad Barket/Getty Images
Also in 2019, Mercedes-Benz debuted an augmented-reality experience featuring Sloane Stephens, inviting fans to take a virtual tennis lesson from the athlete. The car brand developed the technology experience by capturing the style and play of Stephens with video, and translating the footage into AR features. Fans activated the personalized lesson by approaching the tennis court and verbally asking, "Hey, Mercedes, teach me to play like Sloane.”
Photo: Courtesy of Mercedes-Benz
Italian sportswear company Fila ended a yearlong campaign celebrating the brand's original creative director, Pierluigi Rolando, with a colorful pop-up in Brooklyn in 2019. The tennis-theme space, which was produced and designed by The Gathery, paid tribute to Rolando (known for introducing color to tennis outfits in 1973) with a variety of vignettes and table tennis. Interactive stations for guests included a coloring book mural, where attendees could color in the newest campaign illustrations. See more: U.S. Open 2019: 22 Tennis-Theme Highlights From Sponsors and Satellite Events
Photo: Omar Alexander Hernandez
U.S. Open 2018
Pop star Kelly Clarkson kicked off the 2018 U.S. Open with an opening night performance, which was produced by USTA in partnership with Fiur Productions and Overland Entertainment Company. Clarkson’s performance featured eye-catching LED “sugar cubes” that changed colors, created by Symmetry Labs.
Photo: Brian Friedman/USTA
IBM had a major presence in 2018 with the integration of the company’s AI Highlights, a technology solution that allows players and coaches to analyze and improve their performance. Fans could engage with the company’s technology at a new on-site experience, where guests tested IBM Watson’s ability to recognize sights and sounds of the game. Guests also could create their own AI Highlights motion-capture visual, which they could share on social media. George P. Johnson produced the activation. See more: U.S. Open 2018: 19 Event Highlights From the Tournament's 50th Anniversary
Photo: Courtesy of I.B.M.
American Express’s 2018 fan experience featured interactive stations, photo ops, and an on-theme design. A playful photo area for fans was a branded Game of Thrones-inspired throne, created with tennis balls and golden tennis rackets.
Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for American Express
U.S. Open 2017
At the 2017 tournament, Grey Goose—the U.S. Open’s official vodka brand—had its first-ever suite at the stadium. Decor included a branded step-and-repeat created with tennis balls and rackets in the brand’s signature blue color. See more: 17 Highlights From U.S. Open Brand Activations
Photo: Brad Barket/Getty Images for Grey Goose
U.S. Open 2015
To celebrate the 2015 U.S. Open, American Express hosted "Rally on the River," a hydro-interactive tennis experience, at Hudson River Park's Pier 97. Four Barco projectors offering 20,000 lumens of light output were used to project animations on a 40- by 60-foot water curtain that was reflected on the Hudson River—from which water was pulled, filtered, and returned. After a tennis homage that featured holograms of past and present tennis greats, the wall of water turned into a giant video game as audience members and the tennis stars were invited to play quick matches on the pop-up tennis court. See more: See the "Hydro-Interactive" Tennis Experience American Express Built
Photo: Brad Barket/Getty Images
U.S. Open 2014
In 2014, to promote its new Nike Court collection, sportswear brand Nike built a surprise pop-up court in downtown Manhattan. Those with a Nike+ account could book court time during the five-day event, which was held prior to the tournament. Production Glue, which oversaw the infrastructure, creative management, execution, and stage production of the event, utilized around 10,000 square feet of space to house the tennis court, two immersive locker rooms for participants (players arrived to find a full tennis wardrobe waiting for them, along with customized name plaques), a formal entrance check-in tent, and plenty of amphitheater-style seating for guests. See more: 2014 U.S. Open: How Brands Courted Fans During the Tennis Tournament
Photo: Oliver Correa
