Tennis, anyone?!

Absolutely. We aced it last night…attended the Delray Beach ATP Tennis Tournament.

It is an intimate venue. Compared to the majors it is a traveling road show of Cats the musical seen at a local theater in Butt Crack, Oklahoma, but the talent was top notch.

What I could do with that tournament. I would start out by offering appealing food, tapping into the new, exciting restaurants popping up in Palm Beach County, create creative craft cocktails, stock compelling merchandise set in attractive stalls and hide the $36 ugly caps and unappealing t-shirts.

The evening match, featuring top ranked Casper Ruud of Norway and American Marcos Giron, was a highly competitive, compelling match. The stands were not even half full.

Marketing appeared to be nonexistent for a tournament that had been around since 1993.

If you build it and they won’t come reach out to Florida Atlantic University, Palm Beach State, the Boys and Girls club. Get tennis apparel wearing bodies in the seats. Donate the tickets to less kids.

Such a pity to have top ranked American tennis player, Taylor Fritz (#8), #13 in the world Casper Ruud, #20 Italian Flavio Cobolli, Americans Lerner Tien (#23), Tommy Paul (#24), Frances Tiafoe (#28) playing to a partially filled house. I assume attendance will increase with compelling weekend matches between Fritz and Paul and Tiafoe vs Tien.

And do not get me started on the crowd. I have spent years working at the U.S. Open, attending Wimbledon, the French Open, the Miami Open and the ATP Los Angeles Open held for years at UCLA and never have I ever heard people talking nonstop during points and milling around during the action.

Another reason I would assume that could contribute  to low attendance is the ticket pricing. $170 was the lowest price point. With gas prices trending upward this week due to the alleged impending war purportedly being waged by the U.S. and Israel against Iran, I believe fans cannot afford to spend their money on a tennis tournament. Parking was $45.

Living in this country is very expensive.

Ball is in your court, America. Follow through and keep your eye on the ball In November…vote wisely as if your life depended on it.

Forgive me, I digress.

In the interim, I must state that I thoroughly enjoyed an evening of Game, Set, Match.