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      in Soccer

      For American Soccer Fans, a Late Night Was a Tense One

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      Fans of the Women’s World Cup in the United States on Tuesday had a critical decision to make based on a distinctive 3 a.m. kickoff: Stay up late or wake up early?At Banter Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, patrons groggily stumbled through their next important decision — caffeine or alcohol, or both? They stifled yawns as they powered through the wee hours or stirred themselves from unsatisfying naps, in hopes of watching the U.S. women’s national soccer team rally in its showdown with Portugal for a spot in the single-elimination portion of the World Cup.Cups of coffee and pints of beer were the most popular drinks, but there were also plenty of Bloody Marys, gin and tonics, Red Bull vodkas and even tequila shots — a choose-your-own-adventure style Monday night or Tuesday morning, depending on your perspective.“We were going to open for this no matter what,” the bar owner Chris Keller said. “We’ve been packed for every U.S.A. game.”Under a new ordinance, Franklin Hall in Washington, D.C., was able to host a watch party and serve alcohol on tap until 4 a.m.Pete Kiehart for The New York TimesBanter Bar in the wee hours of Tuesday.Jackie Molloy for The New York TimesAnd packed it was, despite the hour. Across the United States, bars opened early or stayed open late to host soccer fans looking for a shared experience or even just a cable connection. In New York and Washington, D.C., as well as Columbus, Ohio, and Portland, Ore., and points in between, fans disrupted their regular sleeping routines to cheer on a national team that very nearly let them down before sunrise on the East Coast.In Columbus, the Pub at Lower.com Field, where the Columbus Crew of M.L.S. play, had a near-capacity crowd for the scoreless draw. Franklin Hall in Washington took advantage of a new local ordinance that allowed it to host a watch party with alcohol on tap until 4 a.m., followed by coffee on tap for most of the second half. The Sports Bra, a bar in Portland focused on women’s sports, showed the game on Fox in English and on Telemundo in Spanish because the Fox feed kept cutting out.At Banter Bar, most groups were split in terms of those who stayed up and those who crashed for a few hours before the game.“You can’t trust an alarm,” said Elena Studier, who was tucked into a booth with her partner, Marti Martinson. Studier had napped, Martinson had not. “You have to have somebody on the other side,” Studier said.The U.S. fan Han Cronig let out a yawn during the match at Franklin Hall.Pete Kiehart for The New York TimesThe TV broadcast of the game highlighted other watch parties, including one in Long Beach, Calif.Jackie Molloy for The New York TimesStudier and Martinson moved to New York City from North Carolina just two days before the decisive game. They said they were soccer fans and followed the North Carolina Courage in the N.W.S.L.“A week ago, we tried to watch the game, and there’s not much enthusiasm for women’s soccer at a Buffalo Wild Wings,” Martinson said.Studier, 27, added, “We were very excited to come watch with people who actually wanted to get up at 3 in the morning and watch women’s soccer.”Ruby Cirby was impressed with the turnout at Banter Bar. An avid soccer fan and longtime Banter patron, she said that during the Women’s World Cup in 2019, there were only about 10 people who showed up for a 7 a.m. game.“It’s a different vibe if you’re watching it at home,” Cirby said. “I feel like this is a perk of living in the city, is having bars that are open for these kinds of games.”There were only a few to choose from. Mathew Lee and Hector Conde drove to Banter Bar from Staten Island to watch the game. It happened to be Lee’s birthday — he turned 24 right after midnight. For most of the game, however, as the United States struggled to keep a scoreless draw with Portugal to advance to the round of 16, it was unclear whether Lee and Conde would be celebrating.“If they score one, we’re out,” Conde said. “That’s what makes it so nerve-racking.”Fans at Banter Bar expressed the emotions of American soccer fans everywhere.Jackie Molloy for The New York TimesThe question at Franklin Hall was: Beer or breakfast? The answer: Both.Pete Kiehart for The New York TimesThat tension was palpable for much of the game. A small TV in one corner of the bar was showing the Netherlands’ matchup with Vietnam, in which the Dutch racked up seven goals over an opponent the United States had outscored by three. By halftime, it was clear who would win the group — and it wasn’t the Americans.“I’ve been to the last two parades, and I’m hoping for a third one,” said Philip Crandall, who lives around the corner from Banter Bar. “But if they don’t sort something out, a third one doesn’t look to be in the cards.”In the second half, Banter patrons were itching for substitutions. Priscilla Osorio, who is also a follower of the N.W.S.L. club Gotham F.C., said she wanted to see “a Megan Rapinoe moment.” Osorio got her wish in the 60th minute — the bar erupted when Rapinoe checked in for Sophia Smith.“Did Vlatko wake up?” Osorio said loudly, referring to the U.S. coach.Vlatko Andonovski ultimately used all five substitutions, but nothing was enough to lift the United States past Portugal.At Banter Bar, Patrick O’Shea left no doubt about his rooting interest.Jackie Molloy for The New York TimesAbby Lore wore a U.S.-themed bow at Franklin Hall.Pete Kiehart for The New York TimesThe United States will now most likely face Sweden in the round of 16 on Sunday at 5 a.m. Eastern time — a concession for American fans who had hoped to see their team begin seven hours earlier, in a slot at 10 p.m. Eastern that looked like it had been designed with a U.S. audience in mind.Either way, Steve Gaddis was embracing the time difference with New Zealand and Australia, noting that it’s not every year that an overnight game is even possible. Gaddis attended the 2019 World Cup in France, and his sister was at Tuesday’s game in New Zealand.“How many chances do you have to get up and go to a bar?” Gaddis said. “If the next time is in 20 years, we’re going to be 50, and we’re not going to do that.”Gaddis’s friend Jessie Hunter, an architect, had her eye on her start time for work — 9 a.m. The group was planning to hit a diner after the final whistle and decompress before the workday began, the stress of the draw behind them with a new matchup and kickoff time to consider.Franklin Hall before its World Cup watch party.Pete Kiehart for The New York Times More

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      in Soccer

      Messi Was Already a Hit in Miami. Then He Stepped Onto the Field.

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      The impact of the soccer star, who scored a game-winning goal in his debut on Friday, has already been felt in the city known as the unofficial capital of Latin America.Since Lionel Messi announced in early June that he intended to make a stunning jump to Major League Soccer for the twilight of his career, he has flipped the world of his new team, Inter Miami, upside down and shined an enormous spotlight on South Florida. Considered perhaps the greatest soccer player of all time, Messi brought an unprecedented amount of attention to a team that was in only its fourth season and mired in last place.And when Messi was fouled near the top of the penalty box in the third minute of added time in his highly anticipated debut on Friday, he had a chance to prove once again why he was worth all of this hoopla, money and adulation. As he lined up for the free kick in the waning seconds of the game, the crowd of 20,512 at DRV PNK Stadium wondered if he could author another unforgettable moment in an already storied career.The answer: of course. With his golden left foot, Messi drilled a shot into the top left corner of the net, providing the winning difference in a 2-1 victory over Mexican team Cruz Azul that seemed surreal but also quite fitting.“A tremendous joy to get our first victory after how we’ve been doing in the league,” Messi said in Spanish in a postgame television interview.Teammate Kamal Miller said it best when he noted that it was “crazy how that the whole crowd expected the ball to go right there, and he put it right there.” He added later, “We all had that feeling that if anyone could pull off something of that magnitude, that’s the right man.”Fans stood outside DRV PNK Stadium on Sunday to celebrate Messi’s arrival.Saul Martinez for The New York TimesThis is the power of Messi. Before he agreed to come here, Inter Miami was perhaps best known for a cheating scandal in 2021. And this season, Miami had not won since May 23, a span of 11 games. But Messi, 36, has already made an instant impact on and off the field.Messi, who led Argentina to World Cup glory in December and has claimed seven Ballons d’Or as the world’s best men’s soccer player, isn’t just an iconic athlete who has reached almost mythical proportions. He already has and likely will continue to have a substantial cultural influence on a city — and region — known as the unofficial capital of Latin America. Restaurants have changed their menus to include Messi-themed dishes. Murals and signs of Messi have popped up everywhere. Argentine culture is spreading through him.“The magnitude of this announcement — no matter how much I’ve prepared, envisioned, dreamed — is mind-blowing,” said Jorge Mas, the Cuban American billionaire and South Florida native who is the managing owner of Inter Miami. “You’d have to live in a cave to not know that Leo Messi is an Inter Miami player, no matter where in the world.”Look no further than the demand for tickets.A mural of Messi outside the Argentine restaurant Fiorito in Miami.Saul Martinez for The New York TimesGranted, Inter Miami plays in a stadium about 30 miles north of downtown Miami that has a listed capacity of 19,000 and is a placeholder until a proposed larger venue next to Miami International Airport is expected to be completed in two years.But the prices for many tickets to Messi’s first Inter Miami game jumped over $300 from roughly $40. As he acclimated to a new team, Messi didn’t start the game — part of a new monthlong tournament between M.L.S. and Liga MX called Leagues Cup — but it was a sellout anyway. From the beginning of the game, long before he stepped onto the field as a substitute in the 54th minute, fans had been chanting his name.The average ticket price on the secondary market for Inter Miami’s remaining home games skyrocketed to $850 from $152, with road games seeing an even bigger jump, according to Ticket IQ.While some fans have gotten their hands on a Messi Inter Miami jersey, the items are hard to come by online. A note on Inter Miami and M.L.S. official stores, which are run by the sports apparel retailer Fanatics, said that Adidas, the league’s official jersey supplier, would be “delivering this product in mid October.” The M.L.S. regular season ends around then. (Adidas did not respond to a request for comment.)According to Fanatics, since Messi’s new jersey launched on Monday, Inter Miami has been its top-selling team across all sports. The company said on Thursday that it had sold more Inter Miami merchandise since Monday than in the previous seven and a half months of 2023.“This is going to give a level of global exposure for us that we never could have achieved without a player like Messi,” M.L.S. Commissioner Don Garber said. “Whether that’s in South America or in Argentina, or in Europe because he had legendary careers in Barcelona and in France. The goal is try to capture as much of the interest in Messi as we can.”Before Messi’s announcement, Inter Miami’s Instagram account had one million followers. The count had ballooned to nearly 11 million as of Friday, surpassing Inter Milan, the storied soccer club in Italy, and all professional sports teams in the United States save for three N.B.A. teams.Some businesses across South Florida now feature homages to Messi.Saul Martinez for The New York Times“The city has got a bit of a buzz to it now,” Inter Miami defender DeAndre Yedlin said to nearly 40 reporters gathered before a Thursday morning practice, a crowd much larger than usual. “People are really excited, which is nice to see.”For Messi’s presentation event on Sunday — which was broadcast globally in English and Spanish on Apple TV, M.L.S.’s first-year streaming partner — nearly 500 media members were credentialed, according to Inter Miami. And nearly 200 were approved for Messi’s first practice, with a news helicopter circling above since early that morning. Even though reporters were given access to only 15 minutes of the training session, which is common in the sport, television and radio reporters from Argentina broadcast live from their spots on the other side of the field, and then later from the parking lot.“That’s a gift that Leo has given the sport,” said David Beckham, the former soccer star and an Inter Miami owner. “It’s about legacy for him. He’s at the stage of his career where he’s done everything that any soccer player can do in the sport.”Even beyond the field, Messi is among the most famous humans on Earth. At the World Cup in Qatar, it was common to see not only Argentina fans wearing his jersey and singing the national team chants, but also people from Bangladesh or the Philippines. A 30-foot-tall cutout of Messi stands, for example, in the southern Indian state of Kerala.Building on its popularity in Asia, Argentina’s national soccer federation had already begun its plans to grow in the U.S. market a year and a half ago. Leandro Petersen, the A.F.A.’s chief commercial and marketing officer, said the federation has 30-year deals in place in South Florida either to build new facilities (North Bay Village) or to renovate existing ones (Hialeah) to use as training centers for its national team ahead of the 2024 Copa América tournament and the 2026 World Cup.Demand for Inter Miami gear and tickets have skyrocketed. Argentine culture is spreading through him in Miami.Saul Martinez for The New York TimesBut now that Messi is around, Petersen said the federation is benefiting from the boost and seeing its timelines accelerate. Before, he said, it was more difficult to compete with the established American sports leagues, such as the N.F.L. or N.B.A.“What’s happening now is that different companies that didn’t invest in soccer because it’s not the most popular sport in the United States, they’re now starting to include in their budget a part to invest in soccer,” Petersen said in Spanish. Emi Danieluk, the brand ambassador for a local chain of Argentine steakhouses called Baires Grill, which has frequently hosted Messi, his family and his Argentine teammates, said Messi’s arrival had already given more visibility to Argentine culture, products and food. He sees more potential ripple effects of Messi’s presence.“We have today an example of what Messi is generating in Florida, but I can assure you when he starts to travel for Inter Miami to other stadiums that have more capacity, like Atlanta United and 80,000 people, the impact he is going to have in every state is really significant,” Danieluk said. “I don’t think people realize that right now.”Messi walked triumphantly off the field after his first Inter Miami game.Chandan Khanna/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThose in attendance at Friday’s game saw Messi’s substantial impact. After he and Sergio Busquets, a fellow newcomer and former teammate of Messi’s in Barcelona, entered the game, they began exposing Cruz Azul’s defense. In stoppage time, Messi drew a foul and worked his magic. He sent the crowd into a frenzy, celebrated with teammates and raced over to hug his family.“We want to start like that, giving the victory to these people and to thank all the people here,” Messi said afterward, adding later, “I hope that we continue like this and they keep accompanying us all year.” More

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      in Tennis

      Marketa Vondrousova Ends Elina Svitolina’s Wimbledon Run

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      Vondrousova beat Svitolina, the Ukrainian tennis star who had won the hearts of fans, in straight sets to advance to the women’s singles final.Elina Svitolina’s storybook run at Wimbledon came to an agonizing end on Thursday as she lost her semifinal match against Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in straight sets.Svitolina, a new mother from Ukraine who has become a symbol of defiance since the Russian invasion in February 2022 — especially so during her runs at the French Open and Wimbledon — fell to Vondrousova, 6-3, 6-3, on an error-filled afternoon under the roof on Centre Court.For 10 days, Svitolina, who needed a wild card to get into the tournament, had played tennis with a combination of freedom and defiance that thrilled the British crowd, especially during her win over 19th-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the fourth round, when she prevailed in a final set tiebreaker after Azarenka appeared to have the match all but won. Two days later, Svitolina toppled Iga Swiatek of Poland, the world No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam champion, in another tense and emotional three-set triumph.She spoke of how the war and being a new mother had changed her and her approach to tennis, even making her better because she had a new perspective on the sport.“I don’t take difficult situations as like a disaster,” she said. “There are worse things in life. I’m just more calmer.”But then she ran into Vondrousova, a talented and tricky left-handed player who may not have anything close to the résumé of Swiatek and Azarenka — or Sofia Kenin or Venus Williams, two of Svitolina’s other victims at this tournament — but she played as if she did.Vondrousova, who was a ranked No. 1 in the world as a junior and reached the French Open final in 2019, is developing a habit of playing the spoiler. At the Tokyo Olympics, she eliminated Naomi Osaka of Japan, the national hero and international star who had lit the Olympic torch at the opening ceremony, and went on to win a silver medal.Against Svitolina, she displayed every bit of the skill that she has shown in her best matches, showing off a varied attack that includes rolling forehands, drop shots and a penchant for going to the net to finish points at every opportunity. Being left-handed also helps. It forces opponents to adjust to different spins than they normally face and to switch the direction of their attack if they want to get the ball onto her backhand.She had plenty of help from Svitolina, who during the first hour of the match looked as if she had lost the ethereal feel for the ball that had characterized her play throughout so much of the tournament. Swiatek has spoken about how this version of Svitolina, who spent so much of her maternity leave raising money for war relief in Ukraine, was so different.“She played with more freedom and more guts,” Swiatek said. “Sometimes she really just let go of her hand and she played really, really fast.”That version of Svitolina appeared only briefly. In the second set, down a set and 4-0, she broke Vondrousova’s serve twice to gain a chance to even the set.The crowd, which had wanted so badly to help swing the match in her favor, came alive as Svitolina let out a scream and a fist pump and skipped toward her chair for the changeover. But as soon as she seized the momentum, she gave it right back. More

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      in Basket

      Inside the NBA’s Version of Comic-Con

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      Promoted as a celebration of the league’s cultural relevance, the convention also highlighted the N.B.A.’s business ambitions.Somewhere under the lights of the Mandalay Bay Convention Center over the weekend, the Jabbawockeez danced during a television special that could have been an email as part of the “most culturally relevant basketball experience on the planet.”That’s what the signs called it, anyway. It was the first-ever N.B.A. Con, the league’s riff on Comic-Con. The basketball-themed Lollapalooza was a three-day smorgasbord of fashion, music and basketball.But seen through another lens, the convention was an intriguing window into how the league sees itself as a business.The first-ever N.B.A. Con drew more than 25,000 attendees.Bridget Bennett for The New York TimesThe event was a three-day festival of fashion, music and basketball. There were also arcade games.Bridget Bennett for The New York TimesFor the N.B.A., stars are bigger than the games — cultural presences far beyond the floor. The N.B.A. took advantage of that by holding the convention during its summer league in Las Vegas, when scores of stakeholders from the union, retired players, owners, general managers, players, sponsors and fans descend on Nevada.“When you ask people about the N.B.A., for them, it’s not a company,” said Mark Tatum, the league’s deputy commissioner. “It’s life. It’s their culture. The N.B.A. is this culture of music and fashion and entertainment and style.”More than 25,000 fans attended, mostly paying $30 to $250 to get in. But really, cultural relevance is priceless, especially when sponsored by Michelob Ultra. (They were there too.)The convention floor was set up to evoke the spirit of New York City, with park benches, Jenga, cornhole and pickleball courts. There were neighborhoods titled the Drip, the Collection, the Network, the Park and the Convos.The Drip, where sponsors set up shop, was the real core of the convention.Sure, a convention does help the league reach fans in a way it otherwise wouldn’t at a time when LeBron James isn’t playing every night. On Saturday, N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver detailed a new in-season tournament during a bloated television special. But throwing an N.B.A. Con meant the league also created an opportunity for new intellectual property. It sold N.B.A. Con merchandise and created a new Twitter account, though the account had fewer than 2,000 followers on Monday compared with nearly 44 million on the league account.There was an AT&T booth, where a sign read, “Step into the spotlight and show off your fire fit.” Fans lined up and shot slow-motion videos of their outfits under a fancy spotlight.Attendees swarmed the former Knicks star Carmelo Anthony for photos and autographs.Bridget Bennett for The New York TimesAnother booth, run by a memorabilia company, MeiGray, sold game-worn jerseys. Its main podium showed a mannequin wearing a jersey that Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic wore in Game 2 of the N.B.A. finals last month. It sold for $150,000. Next to that was a smaller podium with a jersey that Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler wore during Game 3 of that series. It sold for $17,500. To the victors — the Nuggets — go the bigger boxes and higher prices.Tucked in a back corner of the convention space was an exhibit called “Rings Culture,” from the jewelry store Jason of Beverly Hills. It displayed several replicas of championship rings. It might’ve been the perfect place for a heist in a movie like “Ocean’s Eleven.”The night before the convention, the N.B.A. held a walk-through for journalists. Tristan Jass, a YouTuber known for trick basketball shots, displayed some of his skills on a temporary court. But before doing so, he described his ascension to fame.“When you ask people about the N.B.A., for them, it’s not a company,” said the league’s deputy commissioner. “It’s life. It’s their culture.”Bridget Bennett for The New York TimesFans measured their vertical leaps near the Drip, an area of the convention where sponsors sold merchandise.Bridget Bennett for The New York Times“We just left a trail of inspiration around the world,” Jass told the crowd.His first shot was a heave from a spot adjacent to the court behind a chain-link fence. He missed the first two attempts, but hit the third. It was impressive. His second shot was a full-court launch from the opposite corner. This one didn’t go as well. After at least 20 misses, some observers — the uninspired ones, clearly — moved on to the rest of the tour. When a shot rimmed out, Jass muttered, “Those ones hurt.”The biggest draw for the weekend was a panel discussion with Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar moderated by Isiah Thomas, the former Detroit Pistons star. There were a couple hundred seats, but a long overflow line for viewers trying to catch a glimpse of a basketball torch being passed. Wembanyama was the much-heralded No. 1 pick in the N.B.A. draft last month.There was a larger backdrop too: Abdul-Jabbar’s conversation with Wembanyama in that 30-minute panel was more time than he had spent chatting with James in the last two decades combined. Last month, Abdul-Jabbar told reporters in Los Angeles that he had “never had a chance really to talk to LeBron, other than two or three minutes.”At N.B.A. Con, Abdul-Jabbar said he was struck by how much the game had changed.“The different duties and what is expected of various players in various positions,” he said. “It’s really been through a tremendous change, and for more than a few minutes, I just sat there and wondered, ‘Would I be able to compete?’”Abdul-Jabbar spent 20 seasons in the N.B.A. and retired in 1989 as the career scoring leader. James surpassed his record in February.“Sure would have been nice, though, to be able to fly from city to city in a charter jet like these guys do,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “I didn’t get to do that. I could have played longer.”To that end, the convention served not just as a branding exercise for the N.B.A., but also the players themselves. Scoot Henderson, the 19-year-old who was drafted third by the Portland Trail Blazers last month, is part of a new generation of stars with a marketing reach that players from Abdul-Jabbar’s era would find unrecognizable. Most players are active on social media, which has given them expanded ways to build an audience. Henderson was interviewed in a panel by the former Knicks star Carmelo Anthony — delivering a signal that the league viewed Henderson as next in the star lineage.“I’ve been thinking about myself as a business for a minute,” Henderson said afterward. “The name. A corporation — that’s who I am.”Most fans paid $30 to $250 to get into N.B.A. Con.Bridget Bennett for The New York Times More

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      in Tennis

      The Tennis ‘Pilgrimage’ to the Wimbledon Queue

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      Thousands are waiting, even camping out, in rainy England for a chance to see one Wimbledon match. For some, it is an annual ritual, a pilgrimage for the love of tennis.Tom O’Neill and Roz McArdle stood in Wimbledon’s famous ticketing queue with barely a hope of getting inside the grounds. It was 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, there were 4,000 people ahead of them, and they were told by a steward that it was “enormously unlikely” they would get inside.But they, and hundreds of others, clinging to the tiniest flicker of hope that they might get to see at least one match in the citadel of tennis, persistently inched along the snaking line.“We might as well give it a shot,” McArdle said. “We left work around 4 and got here about 5. If we don’t make it, maybe we’ll come back on Friday.”They were doing what people have done for more than a century, joining a line that weaves through an adjacent golf course and down Church Road to a ticket office, where each person, some of whom wait in line for over 24 hours, can purchase one ticket, for that day only, to attend the most famous tennis tournament in the world.Wimbledon sells tickets months in advance through a public ballot system, and allocates some tickets to tennis clubs and residents who live near the All England Club.Jane Stockdale for The New York Times“It’s totally worth it,” said Shreyas Dharmadhikari, a defense lawyer from Jabalpur in central India. “It is a pilgrimage you make for the love of tennis, for the love of Wimbledon.”With a capacity of roughly 42,000 for the grounds, Wimbledon sells tickets months in advance through a public ballot system, and allocates some tickets to tennis clubs and people who live near the All England Club, and through other select means. It is among the hardest tickets to get in sports, but the tournament does provide thousands of daily tickets to the public, if they are willing to wait hours for one.The queue is one of the longest, old-fashioned box office lines in the world, the sports equivalent to the infamous Studio 54 line, but a lot older.Roz McArdle and Tom O’Neill hoped they would get inside for at least one match on Wednesday.Jane Stockdale for The New York TimesShreyas Dharmadhikari and his son Arjun waited 5 ½ hours to get inside.Jane Stockdale for The New York TimesOn Wednesday, Dharmadhikari brought his son, Arjun, who wore a sticker given out by stewards that read, “I queued in the rain.” They were given holding cards with Nos. 11,466 and 11,477, waited five and a half hours to get inside and were delighted to see several matches and eat strawberries and cream.But on Monday, some people waited nearly twice that long under periodic bursts of persistent rain on a disastrous opening day for the queue. Tournament organizers blamed the delays, which slowed the pace of the line to a crawl, on heightened security searches due to the threat of a climate protest.A protester threw confetti during a match between Sho Shimabukuro and Grigor Dimitrov on Court 18 on Wednesday.Jane Stockdale for The New York TimesThe ball crew picked up confetti and jigsaw pieces that had been thrown on the court.Tolga Akmen/EPA, via ShutterstockThe threat became reality on Wednesday when two protesters ran onto Court No. 18 and flipped over a box of orange confetti. The protesters were led away rather quickly and the match resumed — but only after another rain delay in a tournament plagued by them. After weeks with virtually no precipitation in London, it rained intermittently during the first three days of the tournament, causing havoc within the schedule and in the soggy queue.But even without special circumstances, the queue can be a long (sometimes over a mile), tiresome, adventurous, wet, fun and uniquely British institution.Two schoolboys, Simon, 10, and his brother Stefano, 8, calmly read comic books as they waited on Wednesday, hoping to see their favorite player, the Italian 21-year-old Jannik Sinner, who beat Diego Schwartzman of Argentina in straight sets on Court No. 1.“We have been waiting for maybe two hours,” Simon said, and his brother asked, “Do you think we will make it?”Jane Stockdale for The New York TimesStewards helped organize the queue on Wednesday.Jane Stockdale for The New York TimesAbout an hour later, a steward announced to a group somewhere in the middle of the line that there were 1,600 people ahead of them and that he was informed by a ticket manager only 250 more tickets would be released. Gasps of incredulity and disappointment rang out from the group, but no one immediately left.“How you receive this information is entirely up to you,” said the steward, who did everything short of ordering everyone to go home.That would not have been easy for Danielle Payten and her husband, David Payten, who flew from Sydney, Australia, with their three children. They took no chances of being shut out from the daily queue by doing what hundreds do daily. They camped overnight in tents.David Payten, top center, flew from Sydney with his family and camped overnight in tents.Jane Stockdale for The New York TimesThe tent area, where spectators spend the night to ensure they’ll have a good spot in line the following day, is the more festive area of the queue: People play soccer, cards, cricket or read and sip cocktails. The sun broke out Wednesday afternoon, prompting young men in the line to remove their shirts for some spontaneous sunbathing.“It’s like a carnival atmosphere,” said one steward, who asked not to be named because they are not permitted to speak to reporters.The Paytens arrived at 3:30 p.m. and met some folks from the neighboring tents, one of whom had a dog. They chatted, ate and drank as they prepared for a cricket game on a patch of flat grass later that evening. Danielle’s brother, Chris Kearsley, who lives in London, arrived early to set up three tents for them (only two people per tent are given tickets). His daughter, Eliza Kearsley, lives a 15-minute walk from the same mystical venue that her relatives traveled 10,000 miles to see.She popped over just to see her relatives, for neither she nor her father planned to camp out and attend the next day’s matches.“If I stayed overnight, I’d been too drunk to go inside,” Chris Kearsley joked.But with only about 200 people in front of their group, the Australian cousins were virtually guaranteed entrance for Thursday’s matches.“It’s well worth it,” David Payten said. “It’s an adventure.”One traveler from Japan, who planned to stay for most of the two weeks of the tournament, brought a portable, solar powered clothes washer.Maria Balhetchet, a professional violinist from Dorset in southern England, and Felix Bailey, her tennis-playing son, arrived at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, aiming for Thursday’s action. They were given card No. 101, meaning only 100 people were ahead of them. Balhetchet camped out last year with her other son, and even though they scored third-row tickets to an explosive match between the eventual men’s singles finalist Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas, the experience was generally exhausting. Moisture infiltrated the tent, she did not get any sleep and she vowed never to do it again.But there she was on Wednesday.“It’s like giving birth,” she said. “You go through it and say, ‘Never again,’ but then of course you want to.”They were prepared to awake at 6 a.m. Thursday (after being in line almost 18 hours). Campers are given 30 minutes to dismantle their tents and put them in daily storage, then get into the line and wait — wait for it — for four more hours until the gates open. Some people, after watching the tennis, go back to the park, pick up their tents and queue up all over again — hence the need for the washing machine.Among those still hoping to get in on Wednesday was a group of teenage tennis players from the Time to Play Tennis Academy in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. Their coach, Doug Robinson, said the group flew from Harare to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and then to London, where they hoped to see Wimbledon live, and then play some matches around England.Late Wednesday afternoon they were still far back in the queue. The kids sat on the ground chatting, and Robinson sized up the situation.“It’s not looking too good from here,” he said. “But it’s Wimbledon. You have to take the chance.”Jane Stockdale for The New York Times More

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      After Midnight at the NBA Draft, Dreams Still Come True

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      Mark Tatum, the deputy commissioner of the N.B.A., had an important job — though not a glamorous one — on Thursday night.He had the late shift.Shortly after 11 p.m., Tatum clocked in to begin announcing the names of the players who had been selected in the second round of the N.B.A. draft at Barclays Center. By then, the crowd had thinned, leaving just dozens of scattered fans — and sharply dressed but tired family members — as his audience. There might have been tumbleweeds somewhere.Commissioner Adam Silver had received prime billing at 8 p.m., calling the names and shaking the hands of the most-hyped prospects in the first round, such as Victor Wembanyama, Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson — the top three picks.But Tatum was there for the confident players who were starting to feel snubbed, and for the long shots still hoping to be given a chance. Some of the players Tatum called — like Amari Bailey of U.C.L.A. — were with their family and friends up in the stands, not high-profile enough to be one of the 24 players invited to sit at the long tables draped with black tablecloths and gold basketballs on the floor of the arena. It looked like the most upscale cafeteria known to man.Mark Tatum on stage during the second round of the draft.The first pick Tatum announced, for the Charlotte Hornets at No. 31 overall, was James Nnaji, a center from Nigeria who came up and shook his hand. Art Nevins, a 34-year-old from Brooklyn, was still around to see it.A New Orleans Pelicans fan, Nevins had come with his friend John Traub, 33. Sitting in the stands, Nevins said he was sticking around for the second round to see if the Pelicans might be able to trade for Henderson, whom the Portland Trail Blazers had selected with the No. 3 pick.“I’m wide-awake,” Nevins said. “I’m ready.”It helped that because he had purchased his tickets with a particular credit card, he had received a voucher for two free drinks.Bailey, a point guard who spent one season at U.C.L.A., was selected 41st overall by Charlotte. He descended from the stands in a stylish white suit that appeared to be lined with pearls.Tatum, through a spokesman, said that he looked forward to announcing the second-round picks every year.“The second round is when the hard-core basketball fans at Barclays Center make the most noise,” he said.And they did: Even a single person’s cheers could be heard from the opposite side of the emptying arena.A few rows behind Nevins sat Christian Cabrera, a 22-year-old San Antonio Spurs fan who had made the trek from Atlantic City, N.J., to see Wembanyama be selected with the first pick. He wasn’t ready to leave.“You can’t be tired on a night like this,” Cabrera said. He added: “I’m a real fan, you know? I’m getting my money’s worth for the trip out here. I got to see Wemby up close and personal. I got to be on ESPN, so it was cool.”Amari Bailey, a point guard from U.C.L.A., was selected 41st overall by the Charlotte Hornets. He came down from the stands to meet Tatum on the stage.There’s always a chance of seeing history by hanging in there.In 2014, Nikola Jokic was sleeping in Serbia when the Denver Nuggets drafted him in the second round, and a Taco Bell commercial had been airing when Tatum announced his name. It seemed that only the people in the building had heard the call — the start of the N.B.A. career of a future champion and two-time winner of the Most Valuable Player Award.Depelsha McGruder, who attended the draft with her 11-year-old son, Grant, said she went to Harvard Business School with Tatum. She said his affection for the night shift was genuine.“It’s still the N.B.A. draft,” said McGruder, an executive at the Ford Foundation. “It doesn’t matter. I mean, there’s still people here. This is one of the biggest nights in basketball. Hoop dreams are coming true.”One player sobbed in Tatum’s arms after his name was called.Rayan Rupert, a 19-year-old guard from France, was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 43rd pick.Tatum had another triumphant made-for-television moment, for those who were still awake and watching.Rayan Rupert, a 19-year-old guard from France, was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 43rd pick. Rupert was the last of the 24 invited players still remaining at the tables on the main floor. When Tatum announced his name, Rupert received a roaring standing ovation from the remaining crowd as he hugged his family and friends, with tears in his eyes.Most second-round picks will not have All-Star careers, though players like Jokic, Draymond Green, Dennis Rodman and Manu Ginobili have been exceptions. But judging by all of the hugs, cheers and tears deep into Thursday night, getting drafted, no matter how late, still matters.The 58th and last pick of the draft went to the Milwaukee Bucks, sometime after midnight.They chose Chris Livingston, a forward from the University of Kentucky. He was in the stands and made his way down to the stage.Tatum ended the night with a handshake.One pick acknowledged some of the few remaining fans while heading into the tunnel at Barclays Center. More

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      Victor Wembanyama Has San Antonio Businesses Eager to Cash In

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      Mark Burnett can’t get Victor Wembanyama out of his head. Well, he could, but it would be like taking a knife to the “Mona Lisa.”Burnett, a San Antonio Spurs superfan, had Joe Barajas, a well-known local barber, shear Wembanyama’s likeness into the side of his head just over a week ago. He, like pretty much everyone else in the basketball world, had been expecting the Spurs to select Wembanyama No. 1 overall in the N.B.A. draft on Thursday.“I wanted to show Victor something special, that the city of San Antonio already loves him,” Burnett said at a draft night party at the Spurs’ home arena, moments before San Antonio indeed selected Wembanyama, who had shared a photo of Burnett on his Instagram account.Fanatical? Perhaps. But also eminently reasonable, and not just because of the immense promise of Wembanyama, a 19-year-old French basketball star. As San Antonio’s sole major professional sports franchise, the Spurs are the beating heart of the seventh-largest city in the United States.The Spurs introduced Victor Wembanyama at a news conference at their home arena, the AT&T Center, on Saturday.Darren Abate/Associated Press“I want to do the best I can in every aspect of the job,” Wembanyama said during his introductory news conference on Saturday in San Antonio. “The fans have been the best at their job. I can only hope to be at their level.”That magic, though, has recently gone missing in the River City. The Spurs have not been to the playoffs in the past four seasons; they had made it every year since 1997, winning five championships. A miserable 2022-23 campaign, where they tied for the worst record in the Western Conference, granted a silver lining: a tie for the best odds to receive the No. 1 pick in the draft. Now they have Wembanyama.“It’s going to be a huge uptick for the economy,” said Aaron Peña, who owns two bars in San Antonio and plans to open another in two weeks. “We’re already planning to host not only opening-night parties, but every Spurs game. It’s going to be a party.”For some business owners, the party has already commenced. Chip Ingram owns Roo Pub, an Australian-themed bar inspired by Patty Mills, a former Spurs guard from Australia. Ingram got a big crowd in his pub on May 16 after he announced that if the Spurs won the draft lottery that night, he would pick up the tab. That night might have cost him a pretty penny, since the Spurs won, but Ingram said the spotlight made it more than worth it.Matt Dawson, a Spurs fan, celebrated the draft at the Southtown 101 bar in San Antonio on Thursday in a T-shirt that turned the “W” logo for Whataburger into a symbol for Wembanyama.Josh Huskin for The New York TimesFans at the draft party at the AT&T Center on Thursday in San Antonio.Josh Huskin for The New York TimesIngram has spruced up his menu with a “Wemby Burger” that includes foie gras and French onion strings. After a $1 promotional deal on draft night, the burger now costs $21.50 — a nod to the Spurs legends Tim Duncan, who wore No. 21, and David Robinson, who wore No. 50. They, too, were No. 1 picks.Economic research casts some doubt on the potential strength of the Wembanyama effect in San Antonio. A 2017 paper from Daniel Shoag of Harvard University and Stan Veuger of the American Enterprise Institute found that LeBron James’s return to Cleveland in 2014 boosted the number of restaurants and other eating and drinking venues close to the Cavaliers’ arena. But that wasn’t the case in Miami when James joined the Heat in 2010, though he had a significant effect on employment close to the arenas in both cities. Economists have long argued that professional sports franchises and their stadiums don’t do much to help local economies.“I think people are going to be into the Spurs no matter what, but this just does give more attention to San Antonio,” said Julián Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio who was also the secretary of housing and urban development under President Barack Obama. “It gives a boost to the city in terms of how much it’s in the national spotlight. It raises the profile and visibility of the city with people, and that’s always good for business.”Fans rushed to purchase Wembanyama gear at the Spurs’ draft night party.Josh Huskin for The New York TimesShea Serrano, an author and television writer from San Antonio, never passes up an opportunity to discuss his beloved Spurs. He said he “lost my mind” when the Spurs won the draft lottery.“It felt in the city at that moment like we had won another championship,” he said.Brandon Gayle, chief operating officer of the Spurs, said the team had seen a sharp increase in demand for season tickets — and from a younger, more diverse demographic than usual. San Antonio’s population is about 66 percent Hispanic or Latino of any race and 23 percent white alone, with less than 10 percent of residents who identify as Asian or Black/African American, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Gayle said the Spurs wanted to expand their reach further into Mexico and Austin, Texas, where the team has played several games in recent seasons.From the opening of the Spurs’ arena, the AT&T Center, before the 2002-3 season to the 2018-19 season, the last time the team made the playoffs, San Antonio always ranked in the top half of N.B.A. attendance. They were in the bottom five the past two seasonsCarly Tovar represents the second generation of a three-generation Spurs family. She attended the draft night party with her young son, Mario Calderon, and her father, Ralph Tovar, who started rooting for the Spurs when the team moved from Dallas in the 1970s. The Spurs won their first title in 1999, when Carly was in high school. Over the protests of her father, she went downtown to join in the celebration, where fans walked on the freeway, honked their car horns in jubilation and soaked in the victory over the Knicks.Ralph Tovar, left, his grandson Mario Calderon, center, and his daughter Carly Tovar, right, at the Spurs’ draft night party.Josh Huskin for The New York Times“I came up with David Robinson, Avery Johnson, and I was able to appreciate the next generation with Duncan and Robinson,” Carly said. “So now we get to see that happen for the third time.” She motioned to her son.Ralph agreed. “It’s good for our city,” he said. “It’s got what we call la lumbre, the fire.”The renewed energy around the Spurs has visibly changed San Antonio, in the form of striking Wembanyama homages from local artists. Oscar Alvarado, a tile mosaic artist who traces his family’s San Antonio roots back nearly 300 years, built an 18-foot-tall Wembanyama cutout from steel and plywood. Colton Valentine crafted a larger-than-life mural of Wembanyama palming two basketballs on the outside of a bar in the artsy neighborhood of Southtown, earning a visit from Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich. And Nik Soupe was perhaps the boldest of them all: He finished a mural of Wembanyama wearing a Spurs jersey nearly two months before the draft lottery.An art installation of Victor Wembanyama by San Antonio artist Oscar Alvarado.Josh Huskin for The New York TimesSeveral fans said Wembanyama’s ability to generate a palpable buzz was decidedly “un-Spurslike.” Duncan was notably quiet and rarely did interviews or commercials, much like Kawhi Leonard, who helped the Spurs win their most recent championship, in 2014.But so far, Wembanyama has reveled in the spotlight. He beamed in a video on Instagram as a horde of fans greeted him after he landed in San Antonio on Friday.“He should expect legions of little old ladies saying prayers in Catholic churches for the Spurs to win,” Castro said, “and his success being celebrated by people like he’s a member of their family. That’s the level of enthusiasm and how personally that a lot of folks take it over there.” More

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      Where Do Miami Heat Fans Watch the N.B.A. Finals? For Many, Flanigan’s Seafood Bar and Grill.

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      In South Florida, Flanigan’s, a fishing-themed restaurant chain, is the hot spot to watch the Miami Heat play the Denver Nuggets.People are used to waiting in lines behind velvet ropes to squeeze into the hottest bars and clubs in Miami. But when the Miami Heat are playing for an N.B.A. title, the trendiest place to be is a fishing-themed bar and grill.Nearly two hours before Game 1 of the finals began on Thursday night, most of the wood-paneled booths and bar stools at the Flanigan’s in Kendall were filled with Heat fans, many of them wearing the No. 22 jersey of the team’s star forward Jimmy Butler. (The restaurant is one of more than 20 Flanigan’s in South Florida.)Dozens of other unlucky fans lined up outside the entrance, even after the hostesses told them they’d be waiting about three hours to get in, longer than the game itself. A father and son ate takeout in the back of their pickup truck as they watched the game on one of the restaurant’s outdoor TV screens visible from the parking lot.“The energy and enthusiasm is electric,” said Kelly Connor, 59. Her husband had arrived hours earlier to grab a table for her and their teenage daughter. “It’s the next best thing to being at the game.”Erick Morales, 31, enjoying a bit of Stella Artois beer at the Flanigan’s location in Kendall, Fla.Martina Tuaty for The New York TimesSome of the most popular items include the mountain of loaded nachos and the buttery garlic rolls.Martina Tuaty for The New York TimesEvery seat in the restaurant, too, had a view of a flat-screen television, some mounted between life-size Atlantic blue marlins. All were broadcasting the game.But the generous all-day specials are also a draw for this restaurant, which Joe (Big Daddy) Flanigan started in 1959 as Big Daddy’s, a chain of liquor stores and lounges. Though he died in 2005, his face still adorns the green plastic cups and the restaurant signage.In the 1980s, while facing bankruptcy, the company added restaurants to the business, said Abel Sanchez, a local historian. The pivot happened as interest in Miami sports increased.“They’ve been gold ever since,” Mr. Sanchez said.On Monday, when the Heat won the Eastern Conference finals, the chain sold more than 50,000 wings.That’s Erick Morales’s go-to item when he comes here. He recently moved to Atlanta, but since returning to Miami for vacation three weeks ago, he has been at least eight times to the restaurant, where he and his friends can consume about 50 wings. He also chose the restaurant for his high school graduation dinner in 2010.“This is the hidden gem of Miami,” Mr. Morales, 31, yelled as the crowd cheered when the Heat scored. But the fans’ enthusiasm didn’t keep the Heat from losing to the Denver Nuggets 104-93. As soon as the game was done, the TV channels were changed and the soundtrack switched to salsa music.Heat fans know to show up at the restaurant about two hours before tipoff. Those who didn’t get a table on Thursday night before the game had to wait about three hours.Martina Tuaty for The New York TimesFollow New York Times Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest. Get regular updates from New York Times Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice. More