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Biggest challenge boosting attendance on weekdays
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Shanghai has won top marks for hosting tennis — it’s hugely successful commercially and the ATP 1000 Shanghai Rolex Masters has been voted No. 1 by players for four years running.
What it needs is attendance and filling all those empty seats during weekdays. That means an audience that appreciates not just the superstars, but up-and-coming talents.
This is the 5th anniversary of ATP 1000 Shanghai Rolex Masters, 15 years after Shanghai first staged professional tennis.
“Every year has its unique aspects and story line. We’ve been elected the best ATP Masters tournament for four successive years, and hope we’ll win it again,” said Michael Luevano, director of the Shanghai event.
“In 15 years, Shanghai has accomplished what no other tournaments ever achieved. It’s an amazing story,” said Luevano.
He said the Shanghai Rolex Masters is already the world’s most commercially successful Masters, in terms of sponsorships and partnerships.
One more element — attendance — is necessary before it really becomes a top-level event.
Tickets are already sold out for the weekend of the semifinals and finals, but many weekday tickets are available. Last year, the venues were only 30 percent filled on weekdays, so the organizers have a lot of work to do to fill those seats.
Heavy traffic and workday scheduling cannot always explain low attendance. Daily attendance was more than 90 percent when Shanghai held the year-ending Masters Cup in 2002 and again from 2005 to 2008. The world’s top eight players competed and every game was worth seeing.
The question is how to generate tennis fans’ interest in matches between players who are good but not in the very top ranks. It takes time to cultivate a sports culture and appreciation of the game involving up-and-coming players.
“You can’t buy tradition. China certainly will have a tournament equaling the Grand Slams, but that will take time. When Beijing (the China Open) and Shanghai can fill their stadiums every day, including workdays, then we can say we are close,” Luevano said.
CCTV 5 has bought rights for all four Grand Slams this year and most of Masters events, providing mass exposure. Broadcasting also makes commercial sense. As China grows in wealth, sports like tennis will become more relevant.
Introducing high-level events with big stars is one way to promote tennis, and Shanghai has been doing well in the past decade. Meanwhile, smaller tournaments such as challenges or future events can be more practical and accessible for domestic players. Shanghai staged only one challenge event in September this year. It also held a qualifying event for Chinese players to get wild card access to the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
“The challenge with running smaller events is that you need to have the right elements in place to be commercially successful. And certain criteria need to be met to be on the tour,” Luevano explained. “Everyone loves small tournaments like challenges, but it takes a lot of support from the government to help develop the sport. Finding the right partners is the challenge.”
According to Luevano, China has six ATP challenge events over the year. There are around 100 challenges in the world every year, half of them in Asia.
“Tennis is like a giant ping pong table. It’s easy for Asian people to understand. Chinese athletes have mastered every racket sport except for tennis. They are the best in the world in badminton and table tennis. We already have a female — Li Na, in tennis. All we need is a male, and that will create what Yao Ming had created for NBA in this country.”
Luevano said he is always asked: What happened to China’s men’s tennis?“Sometimes all it takes is a bit of confidence. Chinese players are always lacking of confidence,” he said.
Playing against top players is one of the best ways to build confidence. That’s how international events such as the Shanghai Masters help domestic players, by giving out wild cards and providing them high-level experience.
What’s new this year? There are renovated box seats and a live show by Andy Summers and his band Circa Zero during intermissions on the last day.
The biggest draw is undoubtedly the doubles pair of Roger Federer and Zhang Ze, probably held late Monday afternoon.
“This is a national agenda. We want them to win the tournament. That will be the biggest story ever! As big as Li Na,” said Luevano.
Luevano said he had suggested for years that Federer do something new and fun for Shanghai fans.
“Three weeks off the US Open, he is very anxious to make it into the ATP world finals. His focus is to win matches. Playing in doubles is something he wanted to do here. I know for a fact, he has China in his future.”
The Shanghai Masters is one of Federer’s favorites, partly because he’s the ambassador for Rolex, partly because ATP players have voted it the best tournament for four years.
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