FED CUP, USTA’S CEO AND MORE DECEIT. By Javier Palenque

Next week the USA will play against Belgium in the BJK Cup, and my daughter and I decided to buy tickets and go to Orlando to see Team USA play. So, I went online and discovered that there were no tickets to be sold. The CEO decided not to sell them and have a raffle of sorts; therefore, I could not buy tickets. I called my Orlando tennis friends, and surprise, they couldn’t send their kids either as they were not for sale. This made no sense. I called the USTA and the person I spoke to at the front desk told me that she was sorry but there was nothing she could do. I was going to call the CEO (the fellow who does not play the sport) and tell him to give me his tickets since he does not play, but then I thought, he probably would avoid my call as he avoids my emails and calls for a meeting of accountability. I am persona non grata, which means, “If you think you are unwelcome, if you write you are a threat, so we censor you.”

So, I went online and found a quote from the CEO promoting the event here it is:

“Our goal is to deliver an unforgettable and inspiring experience for both the players and the fans, as the uniqueness and excitement of this competition set at our world-class facility makes for an unprecedented platform to elevate and grow the game," Sherr said.

I am a lifelong tennis fanatic, I want my daughter to play and see how the top pros play so she can be encouraged or not to pursue playing tennis, if she says yes, that means lessons from my local coach, and it means spending hundreds of dollars in pretty outfits and expensive shoes, not to mention absurd tournament fees, travel and hotels, and support the entire tennis economy. But the CEO fellow programmed the BJK event with the annual section meetings and the tickets are not for sale but for the sections. Please realize that this is the same CEO who prefers banks to pay for US Open seats rather than families. So, from an economic point of view for tennis, of course, I am more valuable for jobs in the industry than JP Morgan. But he does not care or see it that way. This means his incentives are wrong.

The Venue Chosen: Lake Nona

The CEO claims that tennis is growing so much that they do not know what to do with the demand, he, and his team, who fund 100% of the TIA, falsely report participation in a way that makes them look competent and the reality distorted in their favor.

This organization claims that in Florida there are 1.6M core tennis players and 1.5M people who want to play. So that is a total of 3.1M people. Yet, the CEO decided to play the BJK Cup in Lake Nona and not at the KIA Arena, where the Orlando Magic play, which hosts 18,500 fans. In case my point is not clear, if it was true that there are 3.1M fans, the 18.5K fan capacity at the Arena is only 0.06% or 1 for every two hundred tennis players. So, the first conclusion that you must reach is, how is it that we pay the USTA executives $10M per year and they cannot get 1 in 200 tennis lovers to show up at the Kia Arena in Orlando? ?The answer is lack of participation.

What the CEO decided was to host it at Lake Nona, that place (which is poorly designed, since there are no bathrooms close by, and the close ones are individual) can only host 1200 people at best or one for every three thousand tennis lovers. Do you understand how silly this math is?

What this tells you is that the 3.1M players do not exist, it is a lie. The CEO would never spend $400K renting the Kia Arena as no one would show up (all USA Team events lose money because there are no fans) and of the people who want to see the event, like me and my daughter's friends, we cannot as they chose a venue that is ill-fitted for this event. ?Mr. CEO who advises you so poorly to make you look really bad.

Since the CEO never played the sport, he of course would not understand my dilemma and that of my kid’s friends and parents. We were going to make it a fun weekend in Orlando for all to be ignited by the American girls, who normally do well, maybe not.

Mr. CEO, it is clear that your participation numbers do not add up, your decisions are poor and your lack of understanding of the game makes you say things you do not mean or know how they make people react. This is called out of place, is it not time for you to leave the game and move on? Because nothing you say seems to align with the facts in the real world. I am respectfully asking for you and your team to resign as you bring no value to the game that you claim to watch.

Maybe we should have a live feed that loops and shows us where the 3.1M players in Florida play as they do not choose Lake Nona for anything or the parks in Miami or Key Biscayne. We can then promote the feed with the sponsors so they can see in real-time just how many people play and want to pay more for broadcasting rights that are due for renewal. In case you do not understand, if you have no participation, you have no fans, if you have no fans all you have is an aging base that is attractive to no one. Your decisions are putting the US Open at risk sir, in case you do not grasp this concept.

The fact is that the tennis situation is grave, and the leadership knows it, they are just milking the sport dry as long as no one says anything. For this and many other reasons, I want every single Ol’ boy out of the sport. I am still waiting for your reply to my request for a meeting in which I will hold you accountable for everything you fail to do and fund. That is why I never get a reply and why I am censored to speak or be heard. I should be speaking at the section's meeting and telling every section leader that if they spend 95% of the grant money on payroll that means they deliver no value to the marketplace. This also means that tennis is dying on your watch. I would then present solutions, cutting the welfare to start.

Mr. Chairperson of the board listen to what I have to say: holding and preserving a fiefdom in 2024 is like trying to sell milk door-to-door in jugs today in 90-degree weather. All the executive team are so out of time and place that they are collectively and individually useless to the sport. For the benefit of the game, I want you out! I want people who put the sport first for our kids and nation. Something that you repeatedly fail to do.

I say NO to ineptitude and YES to growing the game.

I can be reached at jpalenque@yahoo.com

?PS. Remember the WTA ( which loses money) and the ATP are both headquartered in Florida, just a few hours from Lake Nona. This should tell you a lot. Also, remember that the USA is playing qualifying rounds, this also tells you our stand in the world, it is not good. It is all the poor leadership in case you need help concluding the purpose of the article.