Tennis Tantrums, Rogue AI, and the S'more Economy

The U.S. Open sold 738,459 Grey Goose honeydew cocktails last year—$17 million in cocktail revenue alone—but the real drama isn't on the court. It's the influencers. During Coco Gauff's early match, one creator turned on a ring light and blinded her. Two others got kicked out. Then a suite of influencers was so loud the umpire had to pause the match and shout up to them to take it easy. Naomi Osaka said she's never heard an umpire intervene that much in one tournament. Top seed Jessica Pegula said it's become "a little bit too much." The U.S. Tennis Association signed a new deal with TikTok, driving a 25% jump in hashtag tennis posts this year. They also doubled the number of content creator credentials. The result: more mainstream attention than ever, but at the cost of basic decorum. The trade-off emerging across business is reach versus control. Influencers are the greatest marketing move right now—phones are the new TV, algorithms the new TV guide, influencers the new TV networks—but handing over your brand to creators means giving up how it shows up. Oatly, which just filed to IPO, mentioned influencers 23 times in its paperwork. In the risk section. Because negative commentary around influencers could harm their brand or business. The U.S. Open now drives $1.2 billion in economic impact to New York City—more tickets sol