Sport is driven by television

the straits times Sep 6, 2008 Saturday




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But quality invariably suffers when matches are played past midnight

NEW York, they say, is a bit like Singapore, a city that never sleeps.
And, as Wednesday night became Thursday morning, it was literally so for 23,000 spectators and two players at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The clock struck 2am before Rafael Nadal, the best tennis player on the planet, beat America's own Mardy Fish in the quarter-finals of the US Open.
'Thanks everyone for being here until after two o'clock,' said Nadal into a microphone.
'For sure, it was not the best of conditions to play a tennis match. But, sometimes the schedules are tough, like here and in Australia. So, sometimes, it is difficult, but you just accept it and go on the court and try your best.'
He is a good sport and a great champion. But did New Yorkers get value for money simply because the match went on into the night?
Or were they deprived of seeing the greatest spectacle in the modern game because the players were obliged to perform at a time when all good athletes are tucked up in bed, preserving body and mind for contests to come?
This match, intended for prime time CBS television, started after it was scheduled to finish, with midnight approaching.

Nadal took 18 minutes to get into the swing of it and win his first game.
He dropped the opening set to a gung-ho American, who is not on his level.

'The night atmosphere here is always amazing,' said Nadal diplomatically. ' but I prefer to finish a little earlier.'

For those already hooked on English Premier League football, the habit of staying up all night watching live sport on telly is almost a way of life.

Formula One, of course, is not thinking entirely of you when it brings its circus to your streets.
The timing is for the benefit of global TV.
It makes sense to run the race in the dead of night when traffic disruption is at a minimum. And the engines, not to mention the drivers in the cockpits, could be relieved at the relative drop in sweltering air temperature.

the US is driven by television.
Saturday gets the audience ratings up for the semi-finals, Sunday for the final.
If that means weary guys slogging out five-hour five setters on successive nights, never mind the quality, clock the hours and count the winnings.
In case you are wondering, the men and the women get the same incentive - US$1.5 million (S$2.2 million) to each winner, US$750,000 to the runner-up, plus endorsements.
It is just the fans who get short-changed if the champs are at less than full throttle.