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US Open 2026: Creator backlash shows the rules for event marketing

Nearly 100 creators received 2026 US Open credentials. After a viral etiquette debate, the tournament shows why creator fit, clear briefings and on-site management matter for live events.

From Social Rocket editorial team

This text was created with AI assistance and reviewed editorially before publication. All sources are linked below.

Lavazza at the US Open 2026 with Tablì activation
Lavazza

The US Open 2026 show not only how strongly brands can extend sporting events with pop-ups and creator content. The tournament now also offers a second lesson: whoever brings creators into a live event must brief them on the event's rules in addition to deliverables.

According to Digiday, the USTA accredited 2026 roughly 100 creators – almost twice as many as the 54 participants when the official creator programme launched 2025. At the same time, a viral incident during a Naomi Osaka match sparked a broad debate about influencers and tennis etiquette.

Important: according to ESPN, the people in the hospitality suite who used, among other things, a flash and a ring light during the match were not part of the officially accredited USTA creator programme. Criticism nevertheless hit creators as a whole. It is precisely this blurring that makes the case interesting for brands.

Creators are becoming more important for sporting events – not less

That the US Open is expanding its creator programme is understandable. The USTA already stated for the first cohort 2025 that it had generated more than 5,5 million social engagements. 2026 the programme grew to nearly 100 accredited creators.

Classic reach was strong too. ESPN reported that for the opening day on 1 September 2026 an average of 914.000 viewers across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 tuned in, 13 percent more than the previous year and the broadcaster's strongest US Open opening so far.

Creators do not replace this reach. They complement it with formats, communities and perspectives that a classic broadcast can hardly capture. Especially for sports with higher barriers to entry, rules explainers, behind-the-scenes content, fashion or personal event perspectives can bring in new audiences.

The briefing must go beyond talking points

The most important marketing lesson from the current debate is therefore not "fewer influencers". It is better event briefing.

Several creator and social agencies interviewed by Digiday name the same points: brands should explain in advance

  • when and where content may be recorded,
  • which rules apply during the match,
  • which behaviours may disturb athletes or other fans,
  • which areas or moments are sensitive,
  • and who on site is the contact if something remains unclear.

This sounds banal, but it is a different kind of creator management than an ordinary social brief. A posting schedule or a list of claims says nothing about whether filming during a rally is allowed or which behavioural norms a particular sports audience expects.

Creator fit beats maximum follower count

The second point is selection. At culturally strongly coded events, reach alone is not enough. A creator should either already have a relationship with the sport or be able to explain convincingly why the community should follow them on this topic.

From an agency perspective, Digiday summarises the recommended approach in three principles: genuine affinity, explicit briefing and active management on site.

This fits a pattern we also see in other sports campaigns. Factor connects the US Open with Serena Williams, social content and UGC (on the Srocket case). Lowe's deploys NFL players specifically as macro influencers (more on this). Carhartt, in turn, tells stories around the NFL not only about stars but about the construction crews behind a stadium (on the Carhartt case).

The common thread: good sports creator strategy begins with fit to the cultural context, not with the largest available audience.

Pop-ups extend the event – but social needs rules

Long before the current creator debate, the US Open showed how far a sporting event can extend beyond the stadium. Evian, Sephora, Lavazza and Eos used 2026 pop-ups, sampling and creator partnerships in New York to take part in the tennis hype.

Lavazza, for example, brought its new Tablì system to the public "US Open in the City" activation at Hudson Yards. Eos worked without an official US Open sponsorship role with tennis player and creator Ayan Broomfield and combined the attention around the tournament with community activations.

These outdoor spaces are attractive to brands because they are less strongly shaped by the rules of the actual competition. Inside the stadium, by contrast, the sporting experience remains the main product. Creator content should build on that, not compete with it.

What brands can take away

The US Open thus shows two sides of modern event strategy. On the one hand, creators and pop-ups can extend a brief live moment into social feeds and new communities. On the other, every additional content person also increases operational effort.

For brands, this yields a simple check before the next sports or culture event:

  • Does the creator credibly fit the event and its community?
  • Does the briefing include concrete behaviour and recording rules alongside content goals?
  • Is there active on-site management rather than just a PDF beforehand?
  • Does the actual event remain the focus for fans and participants?

Creators will not disappear from major sporting events. The professional difference in future will lie more in how well brands prepare their creators for the space they enter.

Sources