US Open posts anti-flash signs after influencer incidents

At the US Open tennis tournament in the United States, new signs have been placed near the stadiums asking visitors to refrain from using camera flashes and other lighting. This came after a group of influencers with ring lights in a box distracted those present during a match between Naomi Osaka and Anastasia Zakharova. The umpire paused the match and repeatedly asked them to be quieter.

As The Verge reports, in other areas of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, content creators asked tournament staff to photograph them with flash while the Osaka-Zakharova match was underway.

Tournament accreditations

Last month, Jeanmarie Daly, the United States Tennis Association's director of media operations, said that the US Open was nearly doubling the number of content creators whose accreditations it approves. This year, there were around 100 influencers at the tournament, compared with 54 last year.

At the same time, USTA spokesperson Brendan McIntyre told ABC News that the influencers who disrupted the Osaka-Zakharova match had not been accredited by the organization. He also told The Athletic that media accreditations had not been issued to lifestyle influencers Meg Radice and Audrey Jongens. Their tournament access was revoked after they posted photos of their badges on Instagram. According to McIntyre, they were improperly added to a staff list submitted by a food vendor.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Before the rule change in 2024, US Open spectators faced stricter restrictions on leaving their seats before breaks, when players switch sides of the court. Visitors can now stand up at any time, and areas for free movement are available near the courts.

Callaway advertising controversy

The author also cites the example of Callaway Golf Company, which last month apologized and ended its partnership with the sportswear company Good Good following backlash over an advertising video. The video was a parody of Curry Barker's Obsession, in which Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark pushes professional golfer Alexis Miestowski as she reaches for his Callaway-branded club.

Part of the audience viewed the video as inappropriate and as trivializing violence against women. Callaway CEO Chip Brewer acknowledged that the company approved the video before publication, but said its content did not reflect the brand's values. The video was removed. According to the data cited in the article, spending on advertising featuring U.S. content creators amounted to $37 billion in 2025 and was projected to reach $44 billion by the end of the current year.

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