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No Surprise, Serena Wins US Open TV Ratings Battle Too
14 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Articles, Scoop
While there were plenty of surprises at the 2014 U.S. Open, the final TV ratings statistics were certainly not one.
CBS televised it’s final US Open after 47 years of coverage and Marin Cilic vs. Kei Nishikori will go down as one of the lowest rated finals in history. Lacking marquee names in a final that began at 5 p.m. EDT on a Monday afternoon (that’s 3 p.m. on the west coast), it is hardly a shock that the Croatian Cilic’s straight-sets victory against the Japanese attracted just a 1.9 overnight rating, down 32 percent from Rafael Nadal’s win over Novak Djokovic one year ago, according to Sports Business Daily.
The men’s final was less than half of the 4.0 rating drawn by the women’s final between Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki, which was contested on the traditional Sunday afternoon slot.
Tennis is certainly at a crossroads point right now, with CBS now out of the equation and the iconic Roger Federer in physical decline at age 33. ESPN (along with Tennis Channel) will now present the US Open in years to come and without a top male American star as a focal point for the broadcasts, you have to wonder if the popularity of tennis in American is headed for a recession of sorts.
The last American man in a US Open final was Andy Roddick who was defeated in four sets by Federer in 2006. That final produced a 5.1 rating, which no US Open final (men’s or women’s) has been able to match since, according to Sports Media Watch.
Interestingly, the last four women’s finals have significantly out-performed the men’s, ratings-wise, perhaps in part because of the Sunday (women) – Monday (men) scheduling, but also because each women’s final featured Serena.
Roddick is the last American male to win the US Open (in 2003).
We can only wonder now how the TV ratings for another Federer vs. Djokovic showdown on Monday would have performed. And if the ratings flop of Cilic vs. Nishikori is a foreshadow of a future tennis drought in America.
With a multi-million dollar roof over Ashe Stadium already in construction, no apparent Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras or even Serena Williams type stars in the pipeline of USTA Development, and a few more disastrous TV ratings for mens’ finals, one has to wonder if the powers-that-be of tennis will at some point consider the possibility of relocating the US Open to a more lucrative host site, such as Indian Wells, Beijing, or Dubai?
Remember, the US Championships have already moved twice, from Newport, Rhode Island to Forest Hills, NY.
Serena beats the men at US Open
Mike · September 12, 2014 at 2:56 am
“one has to wonder if the powers-that-be of tennis will at some point consider the possibility of relocating the US Open to a more lucrative host site, such as Indian Wells, Beijing, or Dubai? ”
The idea is ludicrous on many levels.
And the underlying premise is absurd. A more lucrative host ? Pull up the USTA Form 990s. They are printing money from the USO. The revenue goes up and up. It’s beyond their wildest dreams 20 years ago. Is there another tennis tournament anywhere generating more than $250 million of revenue ?
The new TV deal is locked in. The lease from NYC is locked in (eat it Rudy G !). The deal for the new land for expansion has been approved by the State and the City. The $500 million expansion is in process.
Why am I even talking about this as if your idea isn’t from Mars ? I’m crazier than you !
EddietheEagle · September 12, 2014 at 3:03 am
Surprisingly little media focus on Cilic’s doping ban too. Where it was, it was mainly mentioned in passing as another of those endless ‘tainted supplement’ cases. As usual, nothing to see here; move on.
Scoop Malinowski · September 12, 2014 at 7:17 am
Never thought we’d see boxing virtually extinct in Atlantic City, like it is now. Never thought Las Vegas would lose ground as a host site of the biggest boxing matches but The Venetian in Macau is hosting major fights now. If American tennis fails to produce major title winners post Serena for the next 2-3 decades, you have to wonder what the impact will be on the US Open Mike. Of course it seems impossible the US Open would ever relocate but if US tennis continues to fail, who knows. Look at Revel Casino in Atlantic City, over two billion dollars invested and two years later it’s bankrupt and out of business.
Scoop Malinowski · September 12, 2014 at 7:18 am
Eddie I was surprised to see the NY Post headline mentioning Cilic as a past PED user after the final win. But yeah for the most part the media is ignoring that angle.
Jack · September 12, 2014 at 12:01 pm
Cilic got caught with a stimulant. It`s performance enhancing effects are very minor. He may be using other PEDs (many observers have said he looked and played `stronger` at the USO), but he was a pretty good player before he went to the `dark side`.
There are players out there on both the men`s and women`s tours that are enhanced (speed, strength, and stamina) a lot more than Cilic is, and have less tennis talent than Cilic does. Some of these cheats are very obvious, yet the ITF does no target testing of these individuals, claiming they don`t see what the rest of us see. The ITF is lying.
Scoop Malinowski · September 12, 2014 at 2:07 pm
Jack, there are drugs that can mask and disguise PEDs from doping testers. According to one PED expert, a man by the name of Heredia, who helped Juan Manuel Marquez KO Manny Pacquiao, he has the knowledge to create 20 different kinds of drugs which make finding PED traces undetectable. And this guy Heredia is a lone wolf operating in Mexico. He’s also worked with Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery, former disgraced sprint stars from the US. So the entire issue is a big complicated mess. It comes down to who plays fair and who cheats. And that’s not easy to determine.
Jack · September 12, 2014 at 4:15 pm
Skip, regardless of the difficulty of catching PED users with testing alone, it is pretty obvious to the trained eye who is likely cheating.
It may not be “proof”, when a player’s body shape keeps changing, their power goes up during a slam, then back down afterwards, when that player has superhuman stamina, but it is certainly suspicious. The ITF sees these things happening, yet never target tests these suspicious individuals, simply because they don’t want to catch them. They are more concerned with appearances, then the truth. Bitti has said as much himself.
:“We have to protect the integrity of tennis, but our attitude on the sports side is that a positive doping case is a sad day. The attitude of the other side, as we see with Dick Pound, is that it is a celebration. It is a different mentality.â€
From :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/9901202/International-Tennis-Federation-backs-Andy-Murray-and-Roger-Federers-call-for-tougher-anti-doping-measures.html
Jack · September 13, 2014 at 1:30 pm
Serena Williams parties after US Open win, misses TV appearances
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/09/10/serena-williams-parties-after-us-open-win-misses-tv-appearances/?intcmp=obnetwork
Gans · September 14, 2014 at 1:22 am
Cilic simply played great tennis at the Open. While one could argue that a PED can help with the speed, it is not going to help with the technique. He was better in every department.
I can see Goran’s influence in improving his serve and overall mindset to go on offense early on. Goran is a three time finalist and a GS champion. He has imparted the champion’s mindset into Cilic.
I enjoyed the finals. Always preferred better tennis than ‘celebrity’ tennis! I got my time’s worth and I am ready to embrace the new champion and celebrate success.
Cheers!
Mike · September 14, 2014 at 1:41 am
“Eddie I was surprised to see the NY Post headline mentioning Cilic as a past PED user after the final win.”
I thought you lived in the NYC area or did at one time. You’re surprised the “Headless Body in Topless Bar” NY Post ran with drug suspension in it’s headline ? Really ?
I looked up the headline and thought it tame for the NY Post and actually not an unfair headline.
Bryan · September 14, 2014 at 5:15 pm
No way will the US Open ever leave NYC. Too much invested in the facilities plus it’s the media center of the world. I think it’s no problem CBS got out. They suck anyhow and half the time the local affiliates opted out during their time slots, showing lame local news instead. Now we don’t have to worry about that.
If marquee names make the finals and the USTA morons stop scheduling Finals when the entire West Coast is still working, ratings will soar.
Bryan · September 14, 2014 at 5:24 pm
Yes Cilic tested positive for PEDs and no, stimulants do not have just a minor affect otherwise they’d be legal. It’s pretty easy to mask drugs like steroids especially when few players are tested during the tournament and no journalists bother to ask if any of the US Open finalists got tested at this year’s US Open.
I presume Cilic and Serena both geared up between Wimbledon and the US Open. A four week juice cycle is typical then they can taper off. They sucked at Wimbledon and looked weak, then cycled in the HGH, steroids and EPO, and all the sudden they played like the Incredible Hulk.
Scoop Malinowski · September 14, 2014 at 8:01 pm
Good points Bryan. But didn’t Cilic play Djokovic very close at Wimbledon. I remember him saying it was a close match with Djokovic, one he could have won, and that performance gave him a lot of confidence which he obviously rode into US Open.
EddietheEagle · September 16, 2014 at 5:09 am
My guess is that Cilic knew he was using the stimulant in training (where it is not banned) but got his dosage wrong and ended up testing positive in competition where it is banned. He cannot tell the truth as to how and why it got there i.e ‘I was only taking nikethamide in training’ as under strict liability he would then have knowingly taken a substance banned in competition and left himself open to the maximum one year sanction. So he lies and says he mistook it for the bulk glucose required for the creatine stacks his quack trainer told him to take. Coramine though is a small compressed tablet and carries a doping warning. How can you possibly confuse Coramine with bulk glucose powder? His explanation doesn’t stack up and leads to the view that the tennis anti-doping panels will accept any old excuse.