IMG Has A Miami Mess , No Men’s Tennis Semifinals by Francisco Resendiz

Written by: on 29th March 2014
Sony Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, in Miami, Florida
IMG Has A Miami Mess , No Men's Tennis Semifinals by Francisco Resendiz

epa04145117 A worker hands out ticket exchange form to tennis fans at the guest services tent at the Sony Open tennis tournament after both Kei Nishikori of Japan and Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic pulled out of their men's singles semi final matches on Key Biscayne in Miami, Florida, USA, 28 March 2014. Nishikori was scheduled to play Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Berdych was to play Rafael Nadal of Spain. Patrons will be able to exchange their tickets for the 2015 tournament. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER  |

A worker hands out ticket exchange form to tennis fans at the guest services tent at the Sony Open tennis tournament after both Kei Nishikori of Japan and Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic pulled out of their men’s singles semi final matches on Key Biscayne in Miami, Florida, USA, 28 March 2014. Nishikori was scheduled to play Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Berdych was to play Rafael Nadal of Spain. Patrons will be able to exchange their tickets for the 2015 tournament.

 

This is almost unheard of ! How is it possible that both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal got what we call in tennis a “WALKOVER” ….ok , we get it a groin injury and a stomach bug. But really. There’s no plan B ? You couldn’t dig thru your mighty Rolodexes and make magic happen ?

It was reported back in December 2013 that IMG was bought out by William Morris Endeavor Entertainment , LLC. The public was told that Maria Sharapova and Oprah Winfrey would be “stablemates” as well as Martin Scorcesse and Denzel Washington and a few hundred other A LISTERS. Some tennis industry insiders wonder who is the new tennis czar. Is it Smoller or Max Eisenbud ? Or maybe nobody ?

How could this event be in the dumps. Where is the old Mark McCormack or even Teddy Forstmann energy ?

Where are all the loyal soldiers ? Where is the sharp Ari Emanuel ? A guy that makes a few text & sends a few pings and some fundraiser gets thrown together for hungry kids in Miami ? There must be hungry kids in Miami. They are in every city.

IMG alone has major star power. IMG combined with William Morris /Endeavor where are your celebs ? Some could have been” Spring Breaking” in Miami during the tourney or finals weekend.I’m not saying it’s easy to pull a rabbit out of a hat. But they had time to save some sessions and do something positive at the same time. The ticket holders could have been offered refunds or the money staying in Miami but going to charity. I like the boys and girls clubs .

The Miami Sony open was already in a rut. But now the rut got bigger. They were hurting for sponsors ? That’s as silly as the one man that’s holding back your growth. Only one holding back your growth is the huge conglomerate you’ve formed that points fingers as if there is a chapter in the manual on how to have fixed this mess and turned into a different direction for fun and entertainment. What’s next thundershowers , a hurricane ? Miami is fixable but it needs new blood and energy. Will the tourney be lost to another part of the world soon anyway ? Probably. So if you are keeping score the “undertakers ” are letting another tennis event go bye bye ….

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