Making it to the Mainstream
The United States has fielded dream teams for the recent Davis Cup match against Spain and the upcoming Federation Cup tie against Belgium. For the Davis Cup match, the U.S. team of Andy Roddick, James Blake and the Bryan brothers defeated a Spanish team which lacked its marquee player, Rafael Nadal. The match was played before sell-out crowds of 14,000 in North Carolina and televised on Versus network (ESPN dropped Davis
Cup coverage) across the U.S. But unless you were a diehard tennis fan, you probably barely noticed. Now the Fed Cup tie will feature Serena and Venus Williams for the U.S. playing against a Belgian squad lacking its two top marquee players, i.e. Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters. The tie will be televised by the Tennis Channel, but it will also be a tough sell, even to avid tennis fans. The global tennis team events, i.e. Davis Cup and Federation Cup, continue to struggle to attract the top players because of scheduling issues. However, in order to begin to truly make it to the mainstream in major media markets such as the United States, Davis and Federation Cup need to have the top players competing in all the ties. If you can’t reach general sports fans in the United States when you have Serena, Venus, Andy, James, Bob and Mike playing, then something needs to change…
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