Naomi Osaka

[lightand]

Not sure why I am finding this interesting, but I am.
Maybe because I am a bit on the fence about it. Or the net!

She is a world ranking tennis player who is refusing to speak to the media, because she has mental health issues, and says it causes her huge anxiety to talk to them.

I think I am coming down on the side of, if that is what she wants to do, that is up to her.

Yes I agree,she's a sportsperson not a celebrity.If they are so desperate to hear from here surely a written statement will do.

I think they have made a real error here, they have to find a way to accommodate mental ill health.

I’m in two minds because she says she has been suffering from depression and anxiety and these interviews exacerbates it. I’ve also suffered with these issues and it’s horrific so I want to be supportive of her not having to do them. No matter how much money she has, it doesn’t invalidate the fact she suffers with these conditions.

I can’t quite shake the fact that she earns so much from the contracts though, because the post match interviews and media exposure is a big part of how the massive prize money is generated. I believe she also has plenty of sponsorship deals not just with sporting sponsors but also people like Tag Heuer - so it does seem like she has courted publicity for money even outside of her core job of playing tennis.

I guess without having access to detailed medical information about her condition (which she shouldn’t have to disclose) it’s hard to say.

Me too! I actually haven’t followed tennis for a while, so I don’t know why this has sparked my interest.

I was wondering if we have become better at ‘thinking again’ around accepted norms.
So my initial reaction was that she is expected and should do interviews but I did wonder: have we simply become used to sport stars being ‘wound up’ at interviews and everyone is taking this for granted and not considering what impact it is having on the athletes. And in the future we might do things differently and look back and think ‘how did we even allow this?’ In a kind of ‘Britney interview’ reaction.

I do think that the press conferences are always longer than they show on tv anyway and god knows they ask some inappropriate questions sometimes . .

Let her do what she wants. Why is there any need to judge her actions in this particular respect? She's a tennis player, playing tennis. Her choices may or may not limit her money prospects.

I say good for her.
She is ahead of the curve and I bet that in a year or so time something will have changed. All it needs is several other high profile sports people to take the same stance and the powers that be will have to listen.
Mental health is all important. Would they rather she withdraws from tennis altogether?

@RedSquirrelsAreAwesome

I say good for her. She is ahead of the curve and I bet that in a year or so time something will have changed. All it needs is several other high profile sports people to take the same stance and the powers that be will have to listen. Mental health is all important. Would they rather she withdraws from tennis altogether?

She has withdrawn from tennis, at least for a while

I believe she also has plenty of sponsorship deals not just with sporting sponsors but also people like Tag Heuer - so it does seem like she has courted publicity for money even outside of her core job of playing tennis

She won’t get “paid” for her core job of tennis though.

Income generated will be through sponsorship and prize money. So if they don’t have sponsorship, regardless who from, no income and she can’t train full time.

The sponsor doesn’t matter. What matters, from a “pro vs amateur” point of view, is that the sponsorship is because of the tennis- so playing in a tag heuer watch or whatever.

Those interviews they do where they sit on a top table in front of the baying press though just look uncomfortable. Personally i don’t think they should be made to do them, especially pre-game.

There must be a compromise? Post game, single journo interview, recorded q&a, written questions etc…

@BelleBlueBell - I know. I said altogether as in forever.

@DasPepe

Me too! I actually haven’t followed tennis for a while, so I don’t know why this has sparked my interest.

I was wondering if we have become better at ‘thinking again’ around accepted norms.
So my initial reaction was that she is expected and should do interviews but I did wonder: have we simply become used to sport stars being ‘wound up’ at interviews and everyone is taking this for granted and not considering what impact it is having on the athletes. And in the future we might do things differently and look back and think ‘how did we even allow this?’ In a kind of ‘Britney interview’ reaction.

I do think that the press conferences are always longer than they show on tv anyway and god knows they ask some inappropriate questions sometimes . .

I think this is where I am at.

But not sure of her, and others' long term implications.
I dont think I know enough about the media and business world, to work out full future implications. Especially if others choose the same route.

Piers Morgan has written a horrible article about Naomi in the Daily Fail. I will not quote it here because it's already got too much publicity on Twitter.

Naomi is an introvert with social anxiety. I have some sense of how she feels because I suffer the same and sometimes it's hard just to talk to the staff at the corner shop let alone the world's flipping media.

She can't have it both ways. Either she honours her contract (that she was signed) and does the media and everything that comes with it to get the huge prize money, or she doesn't play. She has chosen not to play which is her decision, but part of being a highly ranked sportsman is that it comes with media obligations

@Lazypuppy

She can't have it both ways. Either she honours her contract (that she was signed) and does the media and everything that comes with it to get the huge prize money, or she doesn't play. She has chosen not to play which is her decision, but part of being a highly ranked sportsman is that it comes with media obligations

All sorts of work comes with all sorts of contractual obligations - that are waived due to health or mental health reasons.

I do understand that being a professional sports player is only financially viable because of the entertainment aspect. But I LOVE watching Naomi Osaka play, and if I knew that she was making herself ill by doing interviews she didn't want to do then I definitely wouldn't be able to enjoy watching her play.

I don't think media work is fundamental to being an entertaining sports player- being bloody good at tennis is enough for me!

@reallyreallyborednow

I believe she also has plenty of sponsorship deals not just with sporting sponsors but also people like Tag Heuer - so it does seem like she has courted publicity for money even outside of her core job of playing tennis

She won’t get “paid” for her core job of tennis though.

Income generated will be through sponsorship and prize money. So if they don’t have sponsorship, regardless who from, no income and she can’t train full time.

The sponsor doesn’t matter. What matters, from a “pro vs amateur” point of view, is that the sponsorship is because of the tennis- so playing in a tag heuer watch or whatever.

Those interviews they do where they sit on a top table in front of the baying press though just look uncomfortable. Personally i don’t think they should be made to do them, especially pre-game.

There must be a compromise? Post game, single journo interview, recorded q&a, written questions etc…

Are you saying she has done the bare minimum she possibly can to survive financially? Because to be fair, I only follow tennis in passing and don’t know a lot about her. I read on the news she’s made $50m in endorsements which is why I thought she was quite happy to take exposure for money. There’s a lot of daylight between $50m and “no income” which is where I was coming from.

Maybe there is a compromise to be had, I hope so. By all accounts she’s very talented and i wouldn’t want her to have to stop playing because of a mental health condition.

But it’s part of the contract, presumably because these conferences (boring as they are as far as I can tell) are linked to exposure and revenue, and therefore prize money. I don’t think it’s as simple as she shouldn’t have to do them, same as if someone’s anxiety made it hard for them to play in front of a hostile crowd it wouldn’t be viable to say that the crowd shouldn’t be allowed in*

*in a non covid time I mean

As far as I’ve read she hasn’t said she won’t engage with any media ever, it’s the post game stuff she’s really not happy with & I don’t really blame her.
Watch most of the big tennis players at those interviews, very few seem very comfortable with it (Andy Murray clearly hates it)
If it’s detrimental to her game & causing her mental health problems I can’t see a problem with letting her (or all of them) not do the interviews.
People watch tennis for the sport, I would imagine most tennis fans are not that bothered by the post match chat anyway.
For people talking about the sponsorship deals - there is a big difference between posing for a photo shoot for a watch & being harassed by journalists when you e just lost a game

For people talking about the sponsorship deals - there is a big difference between posing for a photo shoot for a watch & being harassed by journalists when you e just lost a game

No, that’s not my point. The point is that the money generated by the sport (to include sponsorship deals, prize money etc) is inextricably linked with the media obligations contained within the contract she signed. I’m not an expert on the inner workings of the ATP tour, but I assume the obligation to do these conferences is in the contract for a reason.

As a general rule, if you want the very very significant financial benefits which come from it being a popular sport with a lot of media coverage (and therefore revenue generating), you have to accept that engaging with the media is part of the deal otherwise it’s having your cake and eating it. Quite apart from which she signed up to a lucrative contract knowing what was involved.

The fact she has a mental health condition is the complicating factor. If she just didn’t like doing them I wouldn’t have any sympathy at all.

I appreciate it’s the post game stuff you say she doesn’t want to do, but that’s the important one.

Are you saying she has done the bare minimum she possibly can to survive financially?

No, I’m saying if she doesn’t do the sponsorships she doesn’t have an income. Just because she does those doesn’t mean she enjoys the fame and publicity.

For people talking about the sponsorship deals - there is a big difference between posing for a photo shoot for a watch & being harassed by journalists when you e just lost a game

This. Just because you shoot a few ads to earn money to enable you to play tennis full time, doesn’t mean you should have to subject yourself to a press pack.

She would still have had plenty of income if she hadn’t eg become brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton.

Do people really not see the link between people paying you millions to pose for a photo wearing their product, and the media coverage which makes you bankable in the first place?

@SlipperyDippery

She would still have had plenty of income if she hadn’t eg become brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton.

Do people really not see the link between people paying you millions to pose for a photo wearing their product, and the media coverage which makes you bankable in the first place?

The coverage that makes her bankable is of her performance on court, not the post game interview. The post game interviews are usually quite short & not particularly memorable. It’s like saying David Beckham was famous because of his 2 minute post match chats on match of the day, rather than his ability on the pitch - it’s just not true.

With her on this one and liked her explanation. I didn’t know the interviews were mandatory and seems so ridiculous/ unnecessary especially after a bad loss. The reason they seem to do these interviews is for a “gotcha” - seeing someone “show emotion” aka break down. As if the organisers want the same interview of “went well/ didn’t” each time. Fine without the interviews, if they want them maybe they should do them after the season

It’s like saying David Beckham was famous because of his 2 minute post match chats on match of the day, rather than his ability on the pitch - it’s just not true

Agree to a point. Football is my obsession, and while I don’t doubt Beckham was very talented, the huge sums of money he earned from sponsorships and endorsements were not just because of his performance on the pitch. Better players earned less. Not mainly because of his post match interviews either though, I would accept!

I’m only saying that:
A) it’s not true she just wants to quietly play tennis and stay out of the spotlight, as she is taking endorsements that she doesn’t have to

B) presumably there is some revenue related reason it is part of the players’ contracts to do these media interviews so it is not as simple as saying if a player doesn’t want to do them they shouldn’t have to. It’s a question of whether it’s a reasonable adjustment for her because she has a mental health condition.

Beckham had the luck of being a good player, a good looking man & he had a very famous girlfriend then wife - he ticked every box for journalists & sponsors.

I don’t think she’s said she wants to stay out of the spotlight, it seems to be these particular interviews that are causing her a problem.

I guess the tour has interviews linked in with broadcast rights & has to fulfil that, which is why they have come down hard on her.

I hope in the future they might rethink the post game interview, I can’t imagine lack of interview would lose them viewers & it’s clearly unpopular with the players ( I can’t think of my of them that seem to enjoy the interview)

A) it’s not true she just wants to quietly play tennis and stay out of the spotlight, as she is taking endorsements that she doesn’t have to

If she doesn’t take the endorsements what is her source of income? Bearing in mind tennis is a short career so players really need to monetarise as much as possible as it has to fund them into retirement, not just current costs.

I have an athlete dc and it’s fucking expensive. Just training costs, travel, kit, comp fees, travel to international comps, subsistence while at comps, it adds up.

Plus, as has been said, filming a commercial in nice lighting with no competition stress wearing a watch is completely different to being interviewed by the press while trying to focus on playing well. Those people can tear you down with a comment, not to mention all the ridiculous questions they ask.

People think that all sports people earn a fortune, and they really don’t in tennis. I know quite a few retired & young players through my job. The youngsters that get on the tour are lucky to break even & the ex players that didn’t reach the very top have to get a job. I once worked with a guy that was uk no 3 & he had to work in a ‘proper’ job as soon as he retired (in his 30s) compare that to the third best footballer in the country & the money they earn.