President Trump will attend the US Open Men’s Final Sunday afternoon, reportedly as the guest of sponsor Rolex. The USTA issued an order to ESPN and other broadcasters “to refrain from showcasing any disruptions or reactions in response to the President’s attendance in any capacity, including ENG [Electronic News Gathering] coverage.”
First, no one should be taken seriously in saying sports are not political or that we need to get politics out of sports. When the President appears becomes a featured part of a sporting event, that makes it political. With Trump, his presence is nakedly partisan. At the very least, it becomes expressive. Wherever the President goes and is highlighted, people must be free to cheer or jeer or protest (within the rules of the space).
Second, shame on the USTA for issuing that order and shame on ESPN and other media outlets for following it (whatever that might look like). Trump will be shown during the anthem, which will be loud and unlikely to draw many jeers. But fan jeering will be more obvious if they show Trump during changeover or a break between points. More likely, fans know he is present, even if not shown on screen, and will begin jeering or chanting at random times. Again, of course, consistent with the rules of a tennis venue, which is not like a baseball or football game in terms of crowd speech. But the Open is famous (or infamous) for its raucous-for-tennis crowds and the USTA has long promoted and encouraged that. To restrict that now–and only for one subject–is to command the media to intentionally ignore or alter reality.
Third, note the command–do not showcase “any disruptions or reactions in response to the President’s attendance.” On one hand, producers ignore genuine disruptions (a fan running on the field or causing a scene in the stands) so as not to encourage the behavior. On the other hand, the USTA is not barring coverage of all such disruptions, only those “in response to” Trump’s attendance. The bar of showing “reactions” raises more problems for the reasons described above. Not sure what ESPN can or will do–cut to commercial? Cut the sound? Dub fake audio? Play “Swan Lake?” Again, anything is a command to a media organization to present its audience with distorted reality.
Fourth, why bother? Everyone in the building will have a phone with a video camera and will record and post to the world all the reactions. Perhaps it lessens the effect–the millions watching live will not see or hear it on ESPN, even if smaller numbers do sometime later in a different media outlet. It encapsulates everything illustrates Trump’s thin skin, the willingness of everyone to kowtow to his wishes, and the willingness of the media to play along, at the expense of reality.
Update: Various reporting seems to have settled: The crowd reacted to Trump three times–when he entered the stadium, when he was shown on the scoreboard during the anthem, and when he was shown on the scoreboard during a changeover; the response was a few cheers (especially when he entered to a still-mostly empty stadium) and mostly boos, especially the last one. According to one report, the ABC/ESPN telecast allowed the boos to be heard. So good (if surprising) for them.
Posted by Howard Wasserman on September 7, 2025 at 08:53 AM