US Open: Lack of tact? - Moderna is a sponsor in Flushing Meadows
What was the US Tennis Association thinking when it brought the pharmaceutical company Moderna on board as a sponsor for the US Open 2022? The partnership may not have a calming effect. A little comment on that.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit: Aug 26, 2022, 08:23 pm
What do American Express, Lavazza, Rolex, JP Morgan, Tiffany & Co. and Moderna have in common? All of them (and a few others) are official sponsors of the US Open 2022. While coffee producers, financial service providers or jewelers can be easily integrated into the supporter potpourri of a tennis Grand Slam tournament, a pharmaceutical company as a sponsor is suspecting something these days strange - especially if it's one of those who produce mRNA vaccines and have particularly distinguished themselves with the production of a Covid-19 vaccine in the last 20 months.
The Moderna vaccine - developed by a US company - is the most commonly used vaccine in western countries, which is used prophylactically against corona disease. And it's no big secret that many pharmaceutical companies have made great profits in the last year and a half. So far everything is still good.
#IMG2#
However: After the 21-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic missed the major event in Australia this year with great media fanfare due to his refusal to vaccinate and is now not allowed to compete at the US Open either, it may then happen but some potential for conflict. Few other topics in the "tennis bubble" have been discussed as hotly in the last month as the Serb's entry ban in the USA.
Can or should one accuse the US Tennis Association of a lack of tact or is it simply part of the business - according to the motto: who pays for it. One thing is certain: the breeding ground for conspiracy theorists is by no means smaller with such an action. The ability to empathize should not be lacking even at mega sporting events of this magnitude.