I went to the US Open. The influencer outrage is overblown
I’ve been going to the US Open in some capacity since I was five years old. What started I’m sure as me playing with a Transformers toy in a New York City hotel room while others watched tennis eventually became an annual trip to see some of the best players and matches the sport had […]
The US Open has come under scrutiny this year due to claims of "weed smell" and an "influencer overload" at the event. However, the author, a 23-year-old sports cultural critic, found that the in-person experience at the US Open had not changed significantly from previous years. The event still boasted the usual overpriced T-shirts, crowded grounds, and louder fans.
The author acknowledges that a small number of influencers were granted credentials to the event, but insists that their presence was not as disruptive as some reports suggest. The US Open has granted 100 influencers and content creators credentials, not the 10,000 that some have speculated. The author also notes that while weed smoking at sporting events is not considerate, it is not indicative of a larger issue.
The US Open's main problem, according to the author, is the high ticket prices, which have driven up the cost of grounds passes and created a problem that needs to be addressed. The author argues that the tournament should focus on improving ticket infrastructure and reducing the media circus surrounding youth culture at the event.
They conclude that the young people who attend the tournament bring a special energy to the sport and that implying otherwise would be detrimental to the US Open and tennis as a whole.
Written by urgent.news from SB Nation's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
