American Express Courts Cardholder Loyalty With Free Tennis During US Open

A tennis player can have a backhand worth showing off at Arthur Ashe Stadium, but that still might not get them in for a few sets at Cunningham Park. American Express has sponsored the US Open in New York City for nearly 30 years. This year, it’s doing so after a pandemic-fueled spike in tennis popularity that saw 22.9 million people ages 6 and over play the game in 2021, according to the Physical Activities Council. That’s a nearly 29% increase from pre-pandemic 2019 and includes 4.9 million people who played the sport for the first time between 2019 and 2021. At the same time, the Sports and Fitness Industry Association just named Wiffle Ball/ping-pong hybrid Pickleball the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. earlier this year. According to USA Pickleball, the group saw its membership increase a 43.5% since early 2021 after participation increased 14.8% in 2021 and 21.3% during the first year of the pandemic in 2020. Break the Love's app lets players book courts, find other players and set matches. However, in New York City, the number of available public tennis courts for either sport has remained static, and even temporarily decreased with East River Park courts closed as part of a flood-control project. So for American Express’s 29th US Open starting Aug. 29, it teamed with tennis court reservation app Break the Love to offer 10,000 court free court reservations at more than 500 tennis and pickleball courts throughout the New York metro area. Fans can visit breakthelove.com/clubs/amex to reserve court time from Aug. 13 through Sept. 13. Cardholders, meanwhile, have special access to peak reservation times. As more brands seek “authentic” experiences to woo consumers with expendable income, American Express is using a tech partnership and three decades’ worth of US Open sponsorship experience to draw a direct connection between itself and tennis. By linking exclusive access to courts with its proprietary US Open perks and amenities, it provides fans, athletes and cardholders with a 21st century update of its cornerstone 20th century slogan: "Membership has its privileges." “As many New Yorkers can attest, the demand for courts in NYC has become increasingly high as we’ve seen tennis surge in popularity among existing and new fans,” said Lindsay Ulrey, vp of global sports experiences and partnerships at American Express. “With the rise in people playing tennis over the past few years, we knew we needed to bring the magic of the US Open to the greater New York area for fans and cardmembers alike.” Serena Williams Will Exit the Court, but Her Title as Brand Icon Is Assured Holding serve During her time with ESPN’s digital product team in Connecticut, Trisha Goyal wanted tennis matches nobody was offering. Community programs took place during work hours, tennis clubs were prohibitively costly, and online tennis groups required legwork that a full-time job made unappealing. Tennis was supposed to be a respite, a break from work—not a second job all its own. In 2019, she came up with Break the Love as a means of connecting tennis players through a platform. The players could meet up and have matches, while municipal governments, tennis clubs and even homeowners with private courts could earn revenue for upkeep. Goyal drew hundreds of venues and coaches, as well as tens of thousands of active users. With investors including Adidas’ venture fund and partners including the United States Tennis Association, Wilson, Adidas, Kith and Tory Burch’s Tory Sport, Break the Love pulled in millions in capital while gaining access to an audience of more than 10 million sports fans. Both Break the Love and American Express realize that tennis has skewed younger during the pandemic... and that new players need court time. Goyal and Break the Love have a vision of tennis’ future, and it’s younger and more accessible. As Goyal points out, Gen Z and millennials combined make up roughly 13 million—or more than half—of the nation’s tennis players, compared to fewer than 9 million baby boomers. Just behind Gen Z are a bunch of 6- to 12-year-olds who, according to the Aspen Project’s Project Play, added nearly 38% more tennis players from their group between 2019 and 2020. That’s the largest growth among any youth sport, with the more than 1.6 million youth tennis players trailing only soccer (1.7 million), baseball (3.4 million) and basketball (4.1 million). Among high schoolers (13-17), tennis’ 17% growth was the fastest of any sport. Its 1.7 million high school athletes outnumber those of any sport other than baseball (1.8 million) and basketball (3.6 million). Figures from the Tennis Industry Association indicate that racquet sales increased 22.7% last year. The 3.4 million racquets sold in 2021 constitute the highest one-year total since 2021. Those buyers are sticking with the sport and advancing, with sales of racquets priced below $50 increasing 51.7% from 2019 to 2020 while sales of those $50 and above increased by 49.2% from 2020 to 2021. “We are on a mission to reinvent the tennis club by lowering barriers for the next generation of tennis fans and enthusiasts to access the sport,” Goyal said. “By partnering with American Express, we have the opportunity to tap into a whole new pool of tennis fans, so that we can continue to grow our user base and further our mission of helping our customers get out and play tennis.” Sweetgreen Courts US Open Fans With OOH Placements Starring Naomi Osaka The view from courtside American Express has made selling the US Open an experience unto itself in recent years. A recent Amex survey found that 63% of consumers were likely to go to a live event this summer. To entice cardholders among that demographic into the National Tennis Center in Flushing, the company has offered them: Free bag-check servicePlay-by-play on American Express RadiosCash back from on-site purchases A Centurion Suite for Platinum Card members with dishes from celebrity chefsA checkout-free American Express shop with goods from New York businesses “We know our cardmembers are passionate about tennis and the US Open, which is why we are always looking for new and innovative ways to elevate the experience for card members and fans onsite,” American Express’ Ulrey said. But much like its partners at Break the Love, American Express realizes the pandemic has made tennis’ target audience a bit younger than the Centurion Suite crowd. In March, American Express discovered that millennials and Gen Z made up roughly 60% of its new consumer accounts in 2021. American Express' "fan experience" at the US Open, as shown in a rendering, includes cocktail popsicles and tennis nail art. As a result, American Express will launch its partnership with Break the Love on Aug. 15 with a rooftop pickleball court and pop-up cardholder lounge at Showfields NYC in SoHo. Attendees can book the court through the Break the Love app, get US Open-themed manicures from Chillhouse, popsicles made of the US Open’s signature Honey Deuce cocktail (Grey Goose vodka, raspberry liquor, lemonade and topped with a honeydew melon ball) and Amex x Break the Love merch from Wilson. At the Open itself, American Express is supplementing its other offerings with a two-story fan experience featuring an interactive, digital game called Glow Tennis as well as nail art and popsicles from the launch party. There also will be a private lounge for American Express cardholders. “With entertainment and sports programming being big draws for [millennials and Gen Z], we will continue to innovate and deliver epic experiences,” Ulrey said. “We continue to seek out new ways to meet our cardmembers where they are, as well as provide new ways for them to continue to do the things they love.” How Grey Goose Brought Its Iconic Honey Deuce Home to US Open Fans