[Column] Maria Niderman: The future of sports influencing

What happened in New York is a useful case study for any brand thinking about tennis next season. We saw a version of this at Wimbledon earlier this year too, while there was less to be criticised, it felt like it got far more social coverage than in previous years, with mega influencers like Molly-Mae promoting her own brand courtside, and Alix Earle and Stassie Karanikolou both drawing huge attention just for being there. Tennis is clearly having a moment with this audience, and brands are taking notice.

Tennis is pulling in a completely different mix of creators than it used to. It's not just tennis-focused or sports-related accounts anymore. It's food and drink, fashion, lifestyle, the kind of creators you'd expect at a festival rather than a Grand Slam.

Roughly 100 influencers were accredited at the US Open this year, double that of last year, and a fifth of those were food and beverage focused. That's the real story here. Tennis is actively building itself into an entertainment property, and the audience and content mix is evolving to match. The friction we're seeing is really just growing pains from that shift happening faster than the etiquette around it.

It is worth separating out what rules are long-standing and what rules have only recently been brought into effect. For example, Wimbledon has had a ban on selfie sticks and the 300mm lens limit in place for years. More recently, Wimbledon has confirmed it won't introduce a dedicated creator accreditation category next year and will crack down harder on kit like ring lights, and that's a direct response to the disruptions that occurred at the US Open.

What is new is Wimbledon confirming it won't introduce a dedicated creator accreditation category next year and will crack down harder on kit like ring lights, and that's a direct response to what's played out at the US Open, not a pre-planned move. The USTA's own parameters are much lighter by comparison. There isn't the same clarity around what creators can and can't bring courtside, and that gap is exactly why this week's incidents happened.

Whether brands need to rethink their influencer strategies around major events

Any brand activating at a tennis tournament from here needs a proper content brief, not just a hospitality invite. That means agreeing where and when filming happens, what kit is allowed, and making sure creators understand they're representing the brand in a room where etiquette matters as much as it does courtside.

On the brand side, a good agency ensures creators are briefed on conduct before they land regardless of what the venue mandates, but that's down to individual brands rather than anything the tournament requires.

Tennis has a stillness other sports don't. A football stadium can absorb noise and movement throughout, a tennis crowd is expected to fall silent for a serve. That makes it one of the least forgiving environments for content creation in real time. A ring light at a music festival is nothing. A ring light in a player's eyeline during a service game is a very different thing. Any brief for tennis has to account for that rhythm in a way a lot of other sports don't need to.

I'd push back on the idea this is really an influencer problem, and it's worth noting the players at the centre of this haven't asked for creators to be banned either. Osaka and Pegula have both been fairly clear it's not content creation itself that's the issue, it's specific behaviour, filming through a point, a ring light going off mid-serve, talking over play.

Pegula has said she can appreciate influencers showcasing the US Open experience, she just found some of what she saw disrespectful given these are professional athletes who've given their whole lives to get onto that court. That's a much narrower ask than "keep influencers out," and it's a fair one.

The people involved in the most talked about incident weren't even accredited creators, and a couple of others lost their credentials over separate issues. There's also been disruption this week from drunk spectators and people smoking in the stands, none of that is being framed as a "fan problem" the way this has been framed as a "creator problem." Influencers are an easy target because they're visible and their content travels, but a few bad actors shouldn't set the narrative for a channel that players themselves acknowledge is growing the sport.

Why event access alone shouldn't be the extent of a creator partnership

The real opportunity for brands isn't unlimited access, it's better designed access. Dedicated content windows, defined filming zones, a pre-event briefing on etiquette, that gets brands and creators everything they need without a single point of tension with the match itself.

Access is becoming the valuable asset here, not reach. The brands that treat it that way will get more out of tennis long term than the ones chasing the biggest creator list.

Creators are hugely important for increasing fandom around sports like tennis. Younger audiences are discovering tennis through a creator's outfit check or a food video from the grounds long before they sit down and watch a three-hour match. Coco Gauff made the point well, having new people show up because of a different door in is good for the sport. Creators build the on-ramp that broadcast alone can't.

What this says about the next stage of influencer marketing as brands become more integrated into live cultural and sporting moments

Tennis is actively building itself into an entertainment property, and the audience and content mix is evolving to match. As brands and creators become more integrated into live cultural and sporting moments, the opportunity isn't simply to get closer to the action, but to design that access in a way that works for everyone involved.

Wimbledon has essentially done this brief writing for everyone by refusing a dedicated creator accreditation category next year and tightening equipment rules. Other tournaments and the brands working with them would do well to build their own version of that rather than wait for it to be forced on them.

The real opportunity for brands isn't unlimited access, it's better designed access. Dedicated content windows, defined filming zones, a pre-event briefing on etiquette, that gets brands and creators everything they need without a single point of tension with the match itself. The brands that treat access as a valuable part of the partnership, rather than simply chasing the biggest creator list, will get more out of tennis long term.

Maria Niderman is a Social and Influencer Manager at Dig & Dig

 

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