Inside the Billionaire Shadow League Funding American Tennis
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What is the “Billionaire Shadow League” and how did it emerge in American tennis?
Welcome to Pablo Torre Finds Out. I
am Pablo Torre, and today we're gonna find out what this sound is. You can look at someone like Francis Tiafo. making the semifinals of the US Open, winning tournaments, and you can say I helped make that happen. Right after this.
It's not surprising that tennis on some level, I should say, is like A sport for people with money. It's a country club sport by reputation, of course. And history. And history. Yeah. But even like the US Open this year, which have you been going to every day. Every night. Of course. How many has it been, Matthew Fodderman? And thank you for being here again, by the way.
Thanks for having me. Um, how many has it been? I started going to the what is now called the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center um when I was nine years old, opened in nineteen seventy-eight, old Louis Armstrong Stadium. In terms of covering it. I I don't know. I've been a sports writer for for twenty five, twenty six years and uh Pretty much every year.
I try to go every year and part of the thing about it is that this feels like kind of the people's open. There is crowd noise, there is cheering, there is booing, there is the city of New York almost as this character. The audience feels participatory in ways that are not wimbled in. Or French Open E
Yes, a hundred percent. The US Open is the only Grand Slam and it's it's I would say the one of the rarer of the big tournaments, many of which take place in like huge diverse cities. where you walk around the crowd, it somewhat resembles the city that it exists in. Takes place in a public park, publicly owned facility, owned by the US TA, national governing body of tennis in America. They're all about Accessibility, supposedly, бо this US Open has. Tested their definition of accessibility uh in ways that uh I think a lot of people didn't anticipate.
It is hard to get uh grounds pass. There is a level now of out-of-control pricing when it comes to something that is meant for l broad popular consumption.
Yeah. I would say this year, what has really struck me about the US Open is is that I feel like I am in an airport. You can very easily see That in an airport, there is part of the airport for wealthy people who don't wait on lines. Oh no, hang out at night club, baby. Hang out in the lounge, and there is the airport for everyone else who is, you know, like fighting for an outlet and waiting in like the 26 deep Starbucks line. They are currently building nine new hospitality clubs to enter. Entertain the all the new club seating they have. They actually moved a lot of the seats down from the mid-level into the lower level through this $800 million renovation they're doing on Arthur S Stadium. So they did the thing that's supposed to be impossible, which is they created more beachfront property, which they can get the most amount of money from.
And the feeling I have gotten is that like this. non profit organization which is holding its signature in event In this public park. is suddenly like somehow fitting in with the larger story of America of income inequality and like the top three percent or whatever it is who can afford four thousand dollars to take a family of four to the US open. They're having all the fun and everyone else is just sort of like fighting over the scraps. But the moment that
Вис ал кейм. To mine. Wasn't this year, it was last year. It was July. And what is I think very safely described as one of the strangest tennis matches That anyone anywhere has ever seen. So you may have noticed that we do like following the money here on PTFO, and today's trail. Actually takes us from New York City just for a minute here. And back to the great state of Rhode Island. For a professional tennis match at the Hall of Fame Open. A small but dignified tournament in Newport. Happens to be underway.
These are people who are playing who are trying to get to the major leagues of tennis. Yes. There are rankings points on the line, not that many. There is some money on the line, not that much.
But right now on this July day in question.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the “Billionaire Shadow League” and how did it emerge in American tennis?
0:00–5:53
2
How have sky‑high US Open ticket prices changed the fan experience?
5:53–12:02
3
Why did hedge‑fund titan Bill Ackman step onto the court with Frances Tiafoe?
12:02–18:54
4
What was the wild‑card match at the Hall of Fame Open and why did it spark controversy?
18:54–24:54
5
How does the Finance Cup blend elite finance professionals with top tennis talent?
24:54–31:15
6
Who is Jeff Appell and how does he connect Wall Street money to junior tennis development?
31:15–37:11
7
What lessons did players and benefactors learn from the “customer tennis” experiment?
37:11–42:07
8
What does the rise of billionaire benefactors mean for the future of U.S. tennis?
42:07–47:19
Speakers
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