bett1HULKS - come to stay for decades to come
Two ATP tournaments are currently taking place in a row in Cologne. With superstar Sascha Zverev and other tennis greats. A background report after an interview that tennisnet.com partner Harald Buchheister conducted on site with bett1 founder and managing director Adam Szpyt.
by Harald Buchheister
last edit: Oct 18, 2020, 08:26 am
The initiation of the conversation through Adam Szpyt's PR agency was very curious: "Adam Szpyt is looking forward to speaking with you on site today. Come by anytime. He's lying there on a HULK mattress with his dog, you can don't miss it ". Curious because the mattress corresponded to the business seat area at the edge of the field of that ATP tournament, which probably would not have been able to take place without Adam Szpyt. "A double-digit million amount" has been invested in tennis. So far it has been the summer bett1ACES in Berlin, the current Cologne 1 and Cologne 2 events, but also social initiatives such as "Tennis im Hangar1", a youth development project in which children can train free of charge in the hangar of the old Berlin Tempelhof airport can come.
In general, promoting the next generation is one of his most important concerns. "Tennis has to become better known, the faces are missing so that it becomes a national sport again. The times of Boris Becker and Steffi Graf are coming again - we are committed to making it so long-term." Next, Berlin elementary schools will receive Tennis-AG offers. They think big here, but ultimately they are also looking for "Germany's next tennis star", who should come from Marzahn or Neukölln, Berlin districts that have so far been more remote from tennis.
Barnie Rubble has gone
During a walk with his dogs in Berlin, the love of tennis took its course by chance, because the "old Steffi-Graf-Stadium looked so sad, like in a deep sleep, it had to be awakened". Since the company had previously only sponsored winter sports, tennis was also an alternative for the snow-free season. Against all advice from all sides, because "Resistance and contradictions attract me," said Szpyt. He thinks "We are a high-quality mass product and tennis is also extremely high quality. It fits perfectly, only tennis has to become more successful across the board. And at some point we will make the Super Bowl of tennis", after all, more top entertainment is needed to keep the young target group happy over the long term. "Party and tennis can certainly be combined". A real UK pop superstar had already agreed for Cologne, but after all viewers were canceled due to the short-term regulations of the health authority, the appearance no longer made sense. A singing competition with € 199,000 in prize money is now being called for this.
Anyone who names a tournament after their mattress knows no boundaries. And the case of ideas is packed: "I really want to do something for the women. We actually already had two weeks in Cologne for the women after the men's tournament, but organizationally that was not possible with the WTA." Something could definitely come in this direction in 2020, as he also wants to support women's tennis and is also a big fan of doubles competitions. Besides that, the bett1 moderators and the visagist bustle around, because bett1 also produces its content itself, only "Barnie Rubble", the accredited dog, has the calm gone.