Tennis Channel's Ken Solomon joins Bloomberg podcast

For the fans, event workers and players, it has undoubtedly been a somber year for much of the sports world. However, tennis is a sport that is no stranger to conflict and adversity. Whether it be rain delays, heat waves or political unrest, this game is prepared for the hard-hitting shots.

On Friday, Tennis ChannelPresident Ken Solomon joined Jason Kelly and Michael Barr of the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast to talk about how the sport and his team handled the pandemic.

"Tennis always throws curve balls at you, whether it's massive heat or political unrest, or rain delays," Solomon said. "Whatever it is, it's always something. So we are built to build the suit to fit, this one has been a little crazy but the run up has been for the most part, pretty good."

For Solomon, tennis is more than just the Grand Slam events and top names battling it out. While it's indeed the backbone of the channel, there are many other aspects that make tennis so great. Solomon wanted to share those aspects with Tennis Channel fans and viewers.

"We've tried to take care of the tennis fans and the tennis world, and also just tell stories over the course of the whole thing," Solomon said.

Current news was combined with historic tales from the archive, and each week during the shutdown, Solomon and his staff worked tirelessly to share these pieces with fans across the world. In a time of hopelessness and confusion, Tennis Channel Live was up and running almost every week.

In May, the tennis world would kick off the Re-Open Tour, which featured small non-ATP and WTA events in Europe and in the United States. These pop up events not only gave the players a chance to compete again but also gave the sport's fans a taste of on-court action.

It also would give the Tennis Channel an opportunity to slowly progress and monitor which safety and health protocols worked and what didn't. The following month, 16 top WTA players would compete in a team event in Charleston, and the channel saw larger numbers than they would have during a normal season.

"All of a sudden, boom! We were doing bigger numbers with the Charleston event with 16 top females competitors, including four Grand Slam winners," Solomon told Michael and Jason. "We were doing bigger numbers than we did last year with the regular tour. We were able to prime the pump and keep the fans excited."

By the time Lexington began as the first WTA-sanctioned event on US soil, the numbers were off the charts as fans were excited to see more top names back in action.

"The pent up demand has absolutely created a tidal wave," Solomon said.

Solomon gives a great deal of credit to the USTA and the tennis world as a whole for having the same vision and working hard to ensure it came to fruition. The US Open, which has never been canceled since it first commenced in 1881, made every effort possible for it happen in 2020.

Before closing the engaging conversation, Solomon discussed the on-going fight for racial equality and how important it was for the channel to amplify Black voices.

"We couldn't be more proud to be right there amplifying and portraying those stories,” he said. “People know where to go and when we get them and if other places in the world want the full context, we're there."

Tennis Channel has produced magazine issues throughout the shutdown and TENNIS Magazine's most recent issue features Coco Gauff's fist clinched in the air. Solomon says the issue was dedicated to fairness overall, and pushing these stories of inequality to the forefront to help ignite change not just in tennis but beyond.

"We couldn't be more proud," Solomon said.