In this post, I comment on the United States Tennis Association’s questionable decision to feature a tennis dating show promotion during the US Open.

Ringleader P.T. Barnum is credited with saying the often repeated line that makes public relations professionals cringe: “All publicity is good publicity.” There are so many sound reasons why this is not necessarily so, and we only have to look as far as this year’s final major tennis championship, the United States Open, for the latest example of such questionable promotional tactics.

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced recently Game, Set, Matchmaker, what US Open Tennis is calling “a bold new US Open YouTube series that follows one tennis-savvy bachelorette, ‘The Champion’ on her quest to find love, one match at a time. Over the course of eight episodes filmed during US Open Fan Week, will any of her seven matches be destined for a real-life doubles partner? The series will air during the tournament.”¹

Cute. But not at the US Open.

I am all for having fun with publicity and promotion when a lighthearted approach sets the right tone for the situation, but I had to read that announcement twice to believe I was not seeing things. The US Open is one of the four major championships on both the men’s and women’s tennis tours. Along with the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon, it is the fourth of the Grand Slam tournaments. It is big time with a capital B and serious business for players competing for large payouts, fame, and rankings.

The fans are known for being loud and boisterous throughout the tournament, especially during the late-night matches the US Open is well-known for scheduling. Fun is fun, but the crowd still must quiet down before the next point is played.

This is not some two-bit, obscure tournament in the middle of nowhere crying out for people to take notice. It’s the US Open. And while Wimbledon may be known as the most formal of the Grand Slam events and the US Open as the most free-wheeling and fun – this latest publicity stunt looks like and smells like taking things too far. 

Can you imagine the other possibilities? The Love Boat World Series? The Unmasked Lovers Super Bowl? The 90 Day Fiancé Stanley Cup Championships? The Dating Game NBA Finals? The ‘Voted Off the Island Green’ PGA Championships? 

Frivolous examples, yes, but you get the idea. 

Well-known for the numerous promotions he conducted while owning a major league baseball team, Bill Veeck once sent a three-feet, seven-inches tall circus performer named Eddie Gaedel up to bat in a major league game (Gaedel walked, of course), and Veeck’s Disco Demolition Night promotion resulted in his team forfeiting game-two of a doubleheader after fans tore up the playing field while destroying disco records. Newspaper photos and TV footage the next morning showed an infield that looked more like a battlefield.

Veeck’s teams were often terrible and attendance was low, so he didn’t care about bad publicity. He just wanted to generate interest among those who do not typically go to baseball games, and he took all the publicity he could get. Anything to sell more tickets.

But Veeck didn’t blow up the infield or send a circus performer up to bat when his Cleveland Indians team played in and won the 1948 World Series. Why not? Because the World Series is serious business and a prestigious event not clamoring for attention. Much like the US Open Tennis Championships.

Who knows? Perhaps Game, Set, Matchmaker will be a huge success. I can’t help but think, though, that it will water down the prestige and aura of a Grand Slam Championship. Save those outlandish stunts for events in the less popular venues – not when the event is already on Broadway.

All the same, I wish continued success to the USTA and the US Open. As for the lovely tennis player and the lucky man who wins Game, Set, Matchmaker; well, they are on their own.

REMEMBER…

◊ You can follow all US Open matches on-line at www.usopen.org. 

◊ Visit www.davidajolley.com for additional blog posts, other interesting content, and updates on future book releases.

1.  “Are you ready to meet your match? Game, Set, Matchmaker,” Posted on X, July 31, 2025. ↩︎