2021 US Open was a Grand Slam!

This year’s tennis at Flushing Meadows reminds me that you win big by winning small.  The last year has devastated professional tennis and, as a business, it has been struggling while tennis popularity is at an all-time high.  Wimbledon 2021 was a minor success, but it failed to make even half of what it did before the pandemic.  This year’s French Open had fans but they were in limited numbers and didn’t come close to tournaments of the past.

NY Tough has been the motto, and so it was the standard operating procedure.  Players adjusted to the new rules but had their families and coaches with them.  Fans had to show that they got the vaccine and strict health protocols were in effect everywhere.  The first day of the tournament had an electricity not felt in two years.  They did it, the US Open was here for business and it didn’t let fans down.  The women’s tournament was full of drama and three-set matches.  In the end, the most unlikely qualifier stood there with the 2021 winner’s trophy.  Emma Raducanu, a British 18-year-old, had done the unthinkable, she won the biggest tournament and made herself a millionaire in a single day.

On the men’s side, Novack Djokovic, was chasing “The Grand Slam,” winning all four grand slam tournaments in a single calendar year.  He lost in the finals to Danil Medvedev, in a blowout.  In a strange twist of fate, Novack finally won the hearts of the crowd, something he had desired for a decade. 

The attendance for the finals was staggering, it was packed.  Fans had the choice to wear masks, most kept them on when watching from their seats.  Money was flowing, and people were spending! Fans thought nothing of a $20 cocktail, or a $15 hotdog, they had money to spend!  Each day of the tournament the crowds got bigger, and the fans and athletes adjusted.  New York was back baby and ready for business.  The week after the Open, Broadway started reopening plays and musicals. Oh yes! New York was back.

The idea of controlled growth in the time of the virus is essential to make a business work.  I recently reconnected with my favorite concert organizer and promoter, Rich Rivkin.  He has organized some of the best and most profitable events I have ever attended as a business.  The idea of concert festivals has been out of reach for a while, so Rich rethought what he was doing.  He couldn’t go big, so he went small.  The few events he organized were wildly successful and made him set his sight on going a bit bigger.  He partnered with a local retailer who has glass blowing and allows folks to enjoy cannabis without problems.

Another hit!  Each time, there are more individuals willing to follow the protocols and willing to do anything to hang out, listen to live music, and get high (LEGALLY!!!).  I was incredibly excited to add my company to the mix.  I’ve got games, lots of games.  I too, want to hang out, listen to music and share my games with a group of like-minded individuals.  The Long Island Hash Club, the name of the group, is now part of the Ganja Gaming Guild. I see this as our first-round match and winning means getting bigger and better.

My dream of game nights around the country starts here and now.  I’m joining forces with the Long Island Hash Club and Long Island Glass to make my dream a reality but I’m starting small and showing up for every match ready to win!  I will be there on Friday to show my games, give away some stickers and t-shirts, and maybe find you a perfect game for your next session!

The War for the Stream: Can Marvel, DC, or Disney win?

Bigger is not always better but tell that to Marvel when they continue to make billions of dollars on their big budget superhero style of production! Tell Disney that the giant theme parks and movies that directly tie into merchandising and after marketing and make them ridiculously rich to stop.  DC dreams of producing movies as popular as Marvel and Disney.  All of them believe bigger is better.  I disagree. Not only do I disagree with what they all are doing, I believe that the quality and future profitability of all their products are vastly decreasing. They dream of a world pre-Covid 19, that is a dream that even Disney World can’t have, we all must live with the new norm.

Smaller is better.  I never enjoyed going to the US Open in the 2000’s because the crowd was everywhere.  There were few places you could get a breath of fresh air or a second to breathe.  The tennis was amazing, but the watching live part stopped being fun.  The USTA wanted to make more money, so it got bigger, and it is now the biggest in the world.  It is also the least fun to attend, I now watch the matches at home and switch between matches with a push of a button.  I still miss being there, but I will never miss waiting on line for a half hour to go to the bathroom.  The old tournaments had more charm and less fans.  Smaller was better.

Smaller can be better, but that doesn’t stop people from growing.  Jones Beach Theater was my favorite place to see a concert.  There wasn’t a bad seat in the house, even the upper back row was fun.  Then the remodel - bigger, with obstructed view seats.  The parking lot, no public transportation to JBT, was a nightmare.  A savage rush for two lanes by two giant lots.  A mass of tired, stoned, or drunk fans, rushing to go home and getting nowhere!  The perfect place to see a concert became a hassle and if you wanted to go to concert you needed to be early and leave late.  Smaller was more fun.

Marvel made several great shows on Netflix.  They were gritty noirs, great detective stories with a superhero element.  Daredevil was excellent, as was Luke Cage and Jessica Jones.  My favorite, Iron Fist, was a comic I read during my childhood that I absolutely loved.  Together they were “The Defenders,” a team-up of all the Netflix Marvel heroes.  I really enjoyed that series.  Then Marvel, in their infinite wisdom, felt the need to join forces with Disney and pull all of their Netflix shows.  They have yet to recreate that level of quality and imagination.  The Disney shows are bigger, not better!

The idea of Television, radio, internet, and more have been blended into a vehicle called streaming.  Content has broken free from where it was born, and it now swims in the streaming ecosystem.  YouTube offers everything. Spotify does podcasts and music. Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Disney, and many more offer streaming content of both shows and movies.  The entertainment pie is being cut up before our very eyes with one idea, get bigger!  But content must be made and there is the biggest problem: who will make this content and where do the ideas come from?

Netflix and Amazon have made entertaining content in the past, but it was done at a huge expense.  Disney has entered the field dropping boatloads of cash.  In the 1990’s and 2000’s many ideas came from San Diego Comic Con.  There, both large and small comic book creators would promote their titles and attempt to get the most publicity possible.  Then Hollywood came calling!  These comics were so successful as movies, comic companies became the most fertile ground for new movie products.  Comic companies became entertainment empires and with it they lost what made them great, the small creators writing and drawing the comics.  Bigger will be their downfall, with the best path to prolonged profitability is to sustain the environment that created the ideas in the first place.  Smaller is not only higher quality, but it’s sustainable!

Forget the HYPE and learn from Rafa

This past weekend in Flushing Meadows, NY, Rafael Nadal won the biggest tournament in the world.  The US Open is the crown jewel of tennis and the winner’s trophy is accompanied by a check for 3.85 million dollars.  In a year of hype over Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, Rafa quietly won half of the 2019 Grand Slams.  At 33, this Spanish superstar has it all!  Everything this humble man does is done with an unbelievable charm and quiet dignity.

Nadal lets his tennis talk for itself, and 19 Grand Slam titles sounds pretty loud!  His girlfriend, and soon to be wife, is stunning and her beauty lights up the court every match she attends.  Rafa lives in a community that he purchased for his relatives.  Even with his incredible charity work, and his generosity to family, he still has tons of money.  His newly purchased yacht needed to be bigger than the old one, there wasn’t enough room for guests.  Nadal also loves watches, and has a $50K time piece on his wrist. 

With all that fame, fortune, and luck, Rafa never brags - he looks uncomfortable when praised.  Nadal focuses on those things he can control.  His practice routine is legendary, and few athletes can maintain such a high intensity workout for that long.  On the court, Rafa plays every point hard.  Every shot, every serve, every change over, is done with myopic focus, and everything is intense.  Fans don’t expect Rafael to smile, but they love when he takes off his shirt to show a superhero-like body.  Yes, many find him gorgeous with a kind smile and a easy way about him. 

When he accepted the winner’s trophy on Sunday, tears filled his eyes.  This humble tennis legend is a warrior and never have I have seen a man with more grit.  There he stood, accepting history, and he looked grateful for the roar of the fans.  They love him, and I agree, he is the stuff of legends.  One interview after another, Nadal never changed, he was happy for the attention and humble about his accomplishments.

Men’s tennis is a gold standard of sports.  2019 will be the end of the 3 living legends playing together. Age can’t be denied and Federer and Djokovic had serious injuries that showed during the Open.  Nadal, without any fanfare, might end 2019 in the #1 position.  Rafael Nadal is a force of nature and has the potential to win more Grand Slams than Roger Federer, maybe to become the GOAT?!  He is already history’s greatest clay court player - could Wimbledon be in play in 2020? 

One thing is for sure, Rafael Nadal is the coolest athlete in the world.  Rich, handsome, adored by friends and family, an amazing tennis player, a generous humanitarian, and humble.  I could never be him, but I try to learn from him.  Practice like you play, HARD!  Life gives you a limited amount of chances, so hit the shit out of the ball every time.  Food is wonderful, but being totally in control of your body takes dedication to diet.  Only eat foods that make your body work well and feel great even if it’s the same thing before every match.  Smile! Why not, it makes others smile, too.  Most importantly, never look at the score, always play to win.  Like life, tennis is a game of heart, and you need a great deal of it to win a Grand Slam Tournament.