{"id":884372,"date":"2026-09-08T11:18:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T11:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/884372\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T11:18:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T11:18:30","slug":"us-open-influencers-2026-how-content-creators-and-cannabis-caused-a-stink-at-the-tennis-in-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/884372\/","title":{"rendered":"US Open influencers 2026: How content creators (and cannabis) caused a stink at the tennis in New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Michael<\/p>\n

September 8, 2026 \u2014 3:30pm<\/p>\n

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New York: They are easy to find. Dressed to impress, posing for selfies and sometimes carrying tripods, the influencers – and the wannabes – have hit this year\u2019s US Open with a vengeance.<\/p>\n

Joe Bonham, a 29-year-old content creator from Dallas, is outside centre court in the hot sun interviewing people. His microphone is branded Kalshi, the prediction market company – sports betting, effectively – that signed a multi-year rights deal<\/a> with the US Tennis Association.<\/p>\n

\"MoreMore money than a doctor: sports content creator Joe Bonham was among the influencers at the US Open.Michael Koziol<\/p>\n

Bonham interviews athletes, fans and entrepreneurs at major sporting events, and has amassed more than 450,000 followers on TikTok. He travels the country and has been to two US Opens, three Super Bowls, the Kentucky Derby and even Donald Trump\u2019s recent UFC fight at the White House.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first trip, I went to Kansas City for the NFL draft\u201d he says. \u201cI got some really good content, and I partied at Travis Kelce\u2019s house \u2019til 6am. That was the coolest experience. I thought that was a sign from God that I should keep pursuing content.\u201d<\/p>\n

It certainly beats his old corporate job where he \u201cgot paid nothing\u201d, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I\u2019m making a lot of money.\u201d How much? \u201cI\u2019m making probably more than a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Social media influencers and content creators can tap into the massive American market. With hundreds of thousands or millions of online followers, and frequently working with established brands, they are already a part of the media ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\"ContentContent creators and tennis fans Emily Adawi and Anas Sawalhi at the 2026 US Open in New York.Michael Koziol<\/p>\n

The US Open launched its content creator program last year, offering more than 50 accreditations to influencers from lifestyle, food and drink and entertainment fields. This year, the number of accredited influencers nearly doubled.<\/p>\n

\"AA screenshot from a viral video showing social media influencers recording themselves during play at the US Open.X\/@michiganboy310<\/p>\n

That has brought controversy. The off-court culture war at this year\u2019s US Open has centred on the volume of influencers and content creators present at the tournament, and their behaviour in the stadium. Some tennis fans complain the influencers are not interested in the sport, and instead spend the match chatting, moving around to take photos of themselves, and generally being irritants.<\/p>\n

It came to a head courtesy of a viral video of a group of influencers loudly recording themselves while Naomi Osaka and Anastasia Zakharova were playing on centre court.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, guys. We\u2019re back. Did you miss us? Because we missed you,\u201d the group chanted in unison, followed by a cheer: \u201cWooooo!\u201d Also captured in the video: a fed-up tennis fan, slumped in his chair, head in his hand. The umpire intervened, pausing play to tell the group to please take their seats.<\/p>\n

Later, Osaka welcomed the effort to get influencers to the biggest stages in tennis, but called for respect. \u201cYou want people to continue to grow the sport,\u201d she said. \u201cI just think it has to be in a way that everyone knows the rules and the etiquette.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tennis world loves to agonise over the implications of changes that attempt to broaden the sport\u2019s appeal. Most agree it is great to grow the audience, in theory. Not everyone likes the results.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"USTA<\/a><\/p>\n

Under former tournament director Craig Tiley<\/a>, the Australian Open arguably did more than any grand slam to change the look and feel of tennis. Tiley\u2019s mantra was constant evolution and constant growth, with food, music and entertainment as important as the tennis itself. He proudly announced 30 to 40 per cent of attendees didn\u2019t actually watch any tennis while they were there.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Tennis Australia was working with influencers before the Americans. There were 200 content creators at this year\u2019s Australian Open, up 50 per cent, The Herald Sun reported. There is even a dedicated \u201ccreator lounge\u201d at Melbourne Park. And they induced the same grumbling among some fans, one of whom told the ABC<\/a>: \u201cI\u2019ve witnessed them on their phones, talking, leaving early.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DressedDressed by Ralph Lauren in the preppy uniform at last year\u2019s Australian Open (from left): influencer Costeen Hatzi; content creator Rozalia and investor husband Nick Russian; actor-singer Chun Wu.Getty Images<\/p>\n

The enviable growth of the Australian Open under Tiley led the USTA to seek him out as its chief executive<\/a>. He only took the reins in July, but it\u2019s likely future US Opens will head even further in the Tiley direction. The USTA did not make him available for an interview.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"American<\/a><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t expect the same at Wimbledon, the staid UK grand slam where players must wear white. Organisers have reportedly ruled out establishing credentials for influencers following the US Open controversy.<\/p>\n

But aside from the aforementioned disruptive moment at Arthur Ashe Stadium, it did not feel like influencers had taken over Flushing Meadows.<\/p>\n

Yes, it can be noisy in the stands, but New York spectators have always had that reputation. On Friday, defending champ Aryna Sabalenka stopped play during her third round match to complain about the smell of marijuana.<\/a> \u201cSomeone is smoking weed,\u201d she told the umpire. \u201cIt\u2019s so strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crowd behaviour has come a big talking point, including among the creators themselves. \u201cI\u2019ve seen some of the videos,\u201d says 22-year-old Emily Adawi. She caught my eye as she posed for pictures outside centre court with her friend Anas Sawalhi.<\/p>\n

\"EmilyEmily Adawi and Anas Sawalhi, who style themselves as content creators who also love tennis, at the US Open in New York.Michael Koziol<\/p>\n

They were dressed to impress: she in an AQUA dress, Dior bag, and Sam Edelman heels, and he with a green, double-breasted Zara suit jacket with white pants. They called themselves content creators.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love to dress nice,\u201d says Sawalhi, 23. \u201cAny of the different events that we\u2019re at, it\u2019s a good outfit, good vibes, good food and of course good drinks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair say they are also tennis fans and, unlike the 100 creators who were given credentials by the US Open, they paid for their own tickets. And when I check their follower counts later, it\u2019s likely they won\u2019t be influencing much anytime soon. But they have solid advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a time and place on when to flick up [pose for a picture], when to bring out the tripod and all the extra lighting,\u201d said Sawalhi. \u201cIt\u2019s obviously disrespectful while the game is actively going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SportsSports content creator\u00a0Patricio Campos, from Chile, covers tennis tournaments for up to 100,000 social media followers.Michael Koziol<\/p>\n

There are also content creators here who are dedicated to tennis: not there to preen in front of the camera, but to bring the sport to a new generation of fans through serious coverage on social media.<\/p>\n

Patricio Campos of Chile makes tennis content for more than 70,000 Instagram followers on VTC Tenis, which is dedicated to Chilean tennis players, as well as his own TikTok account, with nearly 13,000 followers. He covers the sport, he doesn\u2019t do fashion \u2013 but he has seen the influencers who do.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you go [to] Louis Armstrong or Arthur Ashe [stadiums], sometimes people are taking pictures in the middle of points and recording themselves instead of watching the match,\u201d the 34-year-old Campos says. \u201cI find it weird. But it\u2019s their own business, I don\u2019t care. They do their stuff, I do mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Andrew<\/a><\/p>\n

Joe Bonham, the sports content creator from Dallas, thinks people ought to be more courteous and less dismissive towards influencers.<\/p>\n

\u201cContent creators and influencers are created a lot like fast food workers. Everyone consumes it, but then they treat some of the people who are doing it like crap,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get [that] some influencers can be obnoxious sometimes. But there are influencers who deal with a lot of people who are hating on them in the comments, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"MichaelMichael Koziol<\/a> is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 8, 2026 \u2014 3:30pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":884373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-884372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}