‘You are the new billboard’: Why celebrities and influencers converge on the tennis

Brands want coverage, celebrities want freebies and content for their socials and the Australian Open wants to grab everyone’s attention – and keep it.

These are the differing objectives happily converging on Melbourne Park as the celebrity influencer social media advertising economy is supercharged by the first major event of the calendar.

In the celebrity ambassador stable, Ash Barty is regarded by brands as the most desirable.Credit:

Thus, reporters turned out to witness Nick Kyrgios playing pickleball on the rooftop of the QT Hotel this week, while Ash Barty headed down to Peninsula Kingswood Golf Course near Frankston to promote her charity foundation.

And it’s not just the superstars who can command appearance fees and are often labelled “ambassadors” or “insiders”. There are other prominent guests who are just happy to get invited – and might post about it to their followers afterwards.

Cookbook author and host Alice Zaslavsky at a tennis party last year.Credit: Eddie Jim

“That’s the influencer economy,” said cookbook author and TV host Alice Zaslavsky, an enthusiastic social media poster who has received several invites to Australian Open brand events.

“They are exchanging money-can’t-buy opportunities for real estate on platforms with the expectation of eyeballs.

“What these influencers are paying with is their time and their bandwidth on the day. You are the new billboard.”

In the celebrity ambassador stable, Barty is regarded as the most desirable, while former champion Evonne Goolagong Cawley is a great corporate guest but rarely agrees to an appearance. Jelena Dokic has growing power due to her recent film, while Pat Rafter is perennially popular.

Cruz Hewitt, the junior tennis player son of champion Lleyton and Bec Hewitt, is promising – but highly protected by his parents.

Current players are riskier. Piper-Heidsieck ambassador Thanasi Kokkinakis had to skip Friday’s media launch of the champagne sponsor’s outdoor bar next to Rod Laver Arena after advancing to the quarter-finals of the Adelaide International (though he was subsequently hit by injury).

Women’s slalom kayak cross Olympic gold medallist Noemie Fox had to fulfil celebrity duties on her own, with a marching band and the champagne house’s president, Damien Lafaurie, who is out from Paris for the event.

“I think it could definitely be easy to get carried away,” said Fox of her recent entry into the celebrity economy. “You know, we come from a very grounding sport, you get back on the water and you are humbled very quickly.”

Fox will attend several tennis matches but skip the finals, which clash with her own sport’s national team qualifiers.

On Thursday, Alex de Minaur and Victoria Azarenka fronted up at South Yarra’s swish Ovolo Hotel for a question-and-answer session.

“Is this your first time staying in this hotel?” de Minaur asked Azarenka as they threaded their way through the crowd.

Tennis stars Alex de Minaur and Victoria Azarenka at South Yarra’s Ovolo Hotel.Credit:

The chat ranged over tennis, Christmas and the famously private de Minaur’s proposal to British player Katie Boulter.

“Long story short, I got on one knee and she said, ‘Yes’,” he recounted.

The interviewer asked Azarenka about her hotel stay and neatly skipped over de Minaur’s accommodation plans.

Possibly because the day before he had posted on Instagram about how excited he was to “get settled into my @Airbnb in Melbourne and make it a true home away from home for the tournament #airbnbpaidpartner”.

Fellow Australian player Rinky Hijikata responded on the post with a single line of amusing dollar sign emojis.

The Australian Open owned summer in Melbourne, said Michelle Stamper, founder of PR agency Stamping Ground, which has prompted the Kooyong Classic and run the guest list for the Australian Grand Prix’s Glamour on the Grid event.

“It is the hottest ticket in town in January, it cuts through all demographics from the sport lovers to the fashionable social set and is appealing to people young and old,” she said.

Stamper said many celebrities attending were happy to turn up without a fee.

“You are spoilt for choice in terms of the ambassadors you can engage with because everyone wants a ticket to the Australian Open,” she said.

“There’s certainly some paid partnerships with brands, but for many it’s simply about being at one of the most celebrated social events on the Australian sporting calendar.”

Brands will give hospitality passes – worth between $500 and $1000 once dinner and stadium seats are taken into consideration – to journalists and influencers.

When Zaslavsky received an invitation to a brand event at the Australian Open, the PR company said her attendance was conditional on a number of social media posts.

“If an invitation comes my way and there is an obligation attached, it is a blanket ‘no’,” Zaslavsky said. “And that is my choice.”

Demanding social media posts as part of an invitation was an overreach, Stamper felt.

“At the end day, for those invited, it is about being a good guest, great company and willing to get into the spirit of the occasion. If brands get social support, then that is a bonus,” she said.

Gareth Beck, co-owner of PR firm Romano Beck, which has represented several Australian Open sponsors over the years, is observing a novel trend this year that points to how the tennis is becoming like other major events.

“An influx of requests from celebrity managers seeking ‘drop-in’ appearances for their clients who already have tennis ticketing,” he said.

“It’s a phenomenon reminiscent of the infamous ‘marquee hopping’ at the Birdcage.”

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