It has been a pretty quiet few weeks for sports in New York. An Islanders move up, Rutgers and Seton Hall climbing the college hoops ranks, Jeter to the Hall, Eli steps down, the Mets revolve managers. There is certainly a share of talk, but for live sports? Meh. So that opens the door for those with a live sports jones to look to the unique; first it was PBR, then squash made its return to one of the most unique stages anywhere, with a week to itself.
Squash. Yes, squash.
The sport of squash is fast, ultra-athletic and pretty much refined to clubs and select colleges and high schools in the United States. It has never been “mainstream.” The International Squash Federation, with a large amount of support in India and Pakistan, has tried in vain to get the sport on the Olympic programme. Women’s Professional Squash, even more of an afterthought than the men’s game by the casual fan, is trying to resurrect itself as a viable alternative for a more edgy audience, and is slowly cutting its own course especially with a charismatic, young American star in Amanda Sobhy of New York.
The J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champions played out in Vanderbilt Hall of Grand Central Terminal in New York, bringing some of the world’s most gifted players to a glass cube for a chance at prize money, a title, and the curious eyes of all coming to and from work. Squash comes to a different place to get exposure with a brand (J.P. Morgan) that can court its high end customers who are interested in the game, as well as find a little extra brand recognition for those going to and from their workplace. It brings the sport right to a large group of consumers who may never have seen the game before, and could take an interest. The sport is not shy to try any form of technology to get its athletes some buzz and the wearable space has garnered a good deal of interest from those involved in the game (check out the story on squash player and founder of WHOOP, Will Ahmed) and aggressively markets the not just to the core but to anyone with an interest in racquet sports.
Will that interest mean that more people will run out to get squash racquets and balls? Well, if there is not a lot of public access to play the game, probably not. What the event does do is create the potential for other showcase events, while also serving as a potential platform to tell the stories of the elite athletes who are competing.
It’s not like squash will suddenly overtake any other racquet sport in popularity, but it is an interesting (and probably expensive) incremental awareness play, that coupled with a young rising star who plays to the crowd, may have squash on the minds of more consumers this January than before and anything to keep people interested and active is not a bad thing.
