The U.S. Open was among the latest live tourism events to go all-in on content creators, nearly doubling credentials to nearly 100 for this year’s tennis tournament.
Some fans weren’t happy. One TikTok with more than 750,000 views shows a woman posing in front of a ring light, the court and players acting as her backdrop. “Not an influencer light in the middle of a point,” text on the video reads. “You have to be joking.”
Another group taking photos inside a hospitality suite was addressed by chair umpire Kader Nouni for disrupting a match: “Guys, please, in the suite behind me … please take your seat.”
The event is a tourism draw for New York City: this year’s tournament drew more than one million attendees. The United States Tennis Association estimates that more than 40% of visitors are from outside the area with 8% from other countries, according to The New York Times.
But some at the tournament and other touri