Southpaw 38: What do Naomi Osaka, John Marshall Harlan, and Joe Manchin have in common?
They're all in this week's newsletter!
Dear Readers,
Last week, we published some brief thoughts on Naomi Osaka’s decision to drop out of the French Open after the French Federation of Tennis (FFT) fined her for refusing to participate in mandatory press conferences. In our post, we asked for reactions from all of you, and we wanted to share an excerpt of a comment we received from loyal Southpaw reader (and brilliant tennis guru) Alex Kogan.
Osaka is completely in the right in her decision. Those in power at Roland Garros and the WTA who turned this into a larger issue should consider resigning, after issuing a legitimate apology, that is…
Now, to the issue of money, because in the end I think it really comes back to that. In 2020, she won one tournament. One. Yes, it was the U.S. Open, which, in the absence of Wimbledon, was the largest monetary prize available during the pandemic-ridden year. But the point is that the prize money did not contribute much to her overall earnings. This is true for all of the best tennis players, male and female alike. Even Novak Djokovic, the leader in all-time earnings, has raked in less than $150 million. Consider the fact that to the highest earners of other major sports and that is a drop in the bucket. The point here is that the players make a pittance from the tournaments themselves compared to what they make from sponsorships. (And let's also not forget that the payments that players get in prize money comes almost directly from the sponsors of the tournament, again no thanks to the ATP or WTA.) If a sponsor wants Osaka to appear in an ad—and she has appeared in many—fine. I think that makes sense. What else is really the point of sponsoring her? But what right does the French Federation of Tennis, or an individual tournament, or the WTA have to fine her for opting out of a press conference? They do next to nothing for her. It is she who brings in the money for them. And she brings in this money with her world-class performances on the court, not her press conferences afterwards, which are mostly watched by tennis wonks like me (and again, she does not owe me anything).
Alex brings up an interesting point here, and he goes on to add that much of the American sports media, more familiar with contract models where a team pays directly for a player’s services, misunderstands the relationship between tennis players and governing bodies of tournaments like the French Open.
As we’ve argued here before, essentially all of the decisions made by groups like the French Federation of Tennis are motivated by their desire to squeeze as many dollars as they can out of a particular event. Taking Alex’s point a step further, this is why the FFT’s decision to fine Osaka seems particularly insane. They may not have known Osaka would drop out of the tournament, but bullying one of the biggest stars in the world—and a huge draw for American viewers—right before a major tournament doesn’t strike us as the best way to ensure that she’ll show up and put her body (and mental health) on the line to make the tournament cash.
The only other explanation we can think of is that it comes down to another significant part of the equation for the people in charge of sports, which is power. The French Federation of Tennis was angry that Osaka had asserted her own power by refusing to take questions from the media, so they decided to flex their own muscles in response. The fine was a way of saying, “We’re still the ones in charge over here.” Yet it was also an obvious miscalculation. Osaka called their bluff, dropping out of the tournament, and demonstrated dramatically that players, not the big-wigs that organize the tournaments, hold the most important cards.
We’ll just add that this sort of demonstration has to freak out the people in charge of events like the French Open. Even though we’re hesitant to draw any tidy ideological lesson from Osaka’s decision, there’s no denying that her action demonstrates—in the words of Barkhad Abdi of Captain Phillips and subsequent meme fame—that she is the captain now. Organizations like the French Federation of Tennis can fine tennis stars all they want, but the athletes might just respond in kind. This shifting paradigm might be a headache for sports bigwigs, but it’s something that the rest of us should be able to get behind.
-Calder and Ian
In other news this week, we’d like to congratulate friend-of-the-newsletter Peter Canellos on the publication of his new book, “The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America's Judicial Hero,” a sweeping biography of the prophetic (and under-appreciated) Supreme Court justice. Harlan was an outspoken champion of racial justice and equality during a period in the High Court’s history when it was doing just about everything in its power to suppress the legal and civil rights of Black Americans. His prescient dissents (especially his famous dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson) laid the foundation for the civil rights revolution during the twentieth century.
The book also tells the story of Robert Harlan, a former slave (and also maybe John’s half-brother) who exerted a formidable influence on John’s intellectual and political development. If you need a tie-in to sports, Robert made his name as an early champion of horse racing in Kentucky, and he was among the first Americans to race American horses abroad in the United Kingdom.
While you wait for your shiny new copy of the book, you can read a bit about John and Robert’s relationship (and the origins of horse racing) in Peter’s recent piece for POLITICO, or listen to his appearance on NPR Morning Edition.
Finally, though there wasn’t much sports-and-politics news this week, we did get this beautiful nugget:
As we know from his recent efforts to torpedo Joe Biden’s infrastructure package and kill Democrats’ broader efforts to protect voting rights, Manchin is now without question the most powerful Senator in Washington. The fact that he was the one to introduce this bill gives it a real chance of gaining traction on the Hill.
Although Manchin’s support is important, it’s worth remembering that it’s thanks to the advocacy of outspoken American stars like Megan Rapinoe that we’re in a place where a conservative Democrat from West Virginia feels like taking up the cause of female soccer players in the first place. Manchin’s bill might not be a top Democratic priority in Congress right now, but don’t worry—we’ll keep you posted on its progress.
RODNEY’S ROUNDUP
Do you want to read about . . .
. . . tennis and transgender acceptance? “At age 28, I began transitioning. But picking up a racket made my body mine,” by P.E. Moskowitz in New York (June 5, 2021).
. . . the case against the Tokyo Olympics? “The Tokyo Olympics Are in Peril,” by Dave Zirin in The Nation (June 8, 2021).
. . . the thin line between “honoring” and “co-opting” players’ activism? “As NBA honors players’ activism, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar urges more action: ‘We’ve got work to do,’” by Candance Buckner in The Washington Post (June 11, 2021).
. . . the latest in the international fight over Ukraine’s soccer kit? “UEFA tells Ukraine to remove 'political' slogan from kit ahead of Euros,” for Reuters (June 10, 2021).
. . . European football’s ongoing struggles with racism? “Romelu Lukaku says racism in football is at an ‘all-time high,’” by Don Riddell and George Ramsay for CNN (June 8, 2021).