Paul Cohen

John & Patrick McEnroe / Insider Expeditions Teleconference

21 February 2023 · Transcription

To watch the video replay of the Zoom call, click here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozt3rn4kf48

Moderator:

All right. Everyone welcome to today’s teleconference featuring John and Patrick McEnroe. The tennis legends are going to discuss their latest project, which in partnership with Insider Expeditions, will be accompanying up to 120 tennis fans on an eight-day travel excursion to Tanzania as part of a new Goodwill awareness and sport initiative. There’s also a charity component with the sweepstakes that’ll raise funds: 50% of the Johnny Mac Tennis Project and 50% to Tanzania Youth Coalition, a very important charity out there. You should have received the release and a link to some images and videos. If not, I’m going to put that link in the chat in case you didn’t and if you are going to ask a question once we get through our intros, you’ll use that raise hand function, which comes from reactions down there. If you can’t, just send me a PM in the chat and we’ll get to as many questions as we can. We’re going to start at this time with Paul Cohen from Insider Expeditions. He’s going to give a brief overview of the program, Paul.

Paul Cohen:

Thank you, Jerry. The full itinerary can actually be found online and also in the sidebar you can download the full brochure. It’s 28 pages. It’s very, very detailed. The tours taking place this December at the end of the tennis season. It’s a luxury tennis themed safari to Tanzania hosted by the Tanzania Tourism Board and the Government of Tanzania. Our legends, John and Patrick are going to be leading the journey for 120 of you folks. Adventurous tennis aficionados are going to join the tour. Some of the highlights include welcome reception hosted by the President of Tanzania, President Hassan and the delegation from the Government of Tanzania. Daily game drives, luxury game drives and great new vehicles and the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. The highlight of the trip is the first ever tennis match in the middle of the Serengeti where the Government and Tanzania Tourism and the parks authority will be building out the first ever tennis court in the middle of the Serengeti.

So if you can imagine the views that you see behind us with the animals, the Big 5, the watering hole in the background, it’s going to have an epic background as well. So on one day John and Patrick will be playing a tennis match again, first ever in the heart of the Serengeti. The next day some participants are going to have a chance to play on the court with each other and some will even have a chance to play with John and Patrick. So we have the court available while we’re there again, we’ll have some other tennis team activities going on at the same time. We’re also going to be moving on to the Ngorongoro Crater where we’re going to spend time in a Maasai village.

The Maasai people have been living in this village for hundreds of years. They have a different way of living and this is the first time that we’re going to be bringing tennis to the village and John and Patrick will be teaching them how to hold the racket, how to volley, how to serve, and again bringing the game of tennis toward the Maasai village, sharing cultures between the two. Beyond that, they’re going to be bush dinners most evenings outdoors with the animals, also meeting some of the local culture, having different cultural activities at the same time. One day we have a balloon safari going up in the air, looking down into the national parks. The lodging includes some of the best lodges, not just in Tanzania but in all of Africa. We’re being hosted at the Four Seasons and and Beyond.

So this is some of the best. In private charters from Arusha into the national parks. So this is the best of the best. Africa, as most people know, as a bucket list destination. It’s a bucket list destination for families multi-generational travel. And for tennis fans, your bucket list experiences tend to be US Open, Wimbledon, French Open, and a Australian Open. And now we have the Big 5, so why not put it all together? And this is the first time we’re going to be able to cross off all five bucket list experiences. So that’s a little bit about the itinerary. Again, you can download the full itinerary, the full brochure. We also have images and video for the press at the same time. Thanks, Jerry.

Moderator:

Great, thanks Paul. Before we open it back up to questions from the field, just want to ask John and Patrick quickly what this once in a lifetime trip means to you and your family to be able to be part of this and leading this?

John McEnroe:

Patrick, you want to start?

Patrick McEnroe:

Sure. I mean this is just an amazing opportunity. I’ve been once to South Africa, probably over 25 years ago, so to be able to go back to Tanzania is just a dream come true was one of the most amazing trips I ever had going when I did go to South Africa. Of course I went to Zimbabwe as John remembers well when he was the Davis Cup captain, but that was, at least for me, strictly about the Davis Cup match. I was there commentating for ESPN. So sort of be my second trip to go on a safari, to go to Tanzania. As I said, I’ve never been. The opportunity to go with my brother and to do something that’s never been done before is just incredible. So you combine that with going with a bunch of tennis fans that love tennis, it’s going to be absolutely incredible. So I can’t wait to see what this court looks like built in the middle of this Serengeti. So that’s going to be incredible and hopefully John will let me at least win a couple of games.

John McEnroe:

I wish I was able to control things that well still, but I can tell you that my wife absolutely loves going on safaris. This is going to be absolutely great experience for us and as many kids as I can bring on the trip that are available to come. So this is very exciting. Then obviously Patrick pointed out to the component that hasn’t taken place, which is playing tennis in the Serengeti. I’ve actually been to Tanzania once before on a Safari, so this is extremely exciting, their chance to get back with and be able to do some things I wasn’t able to do such as play tennis and visit the Maasais and learn a little bit more about the culture. I’m excited and hopefully you’ll add some interest to our sport in Africa. That’s long been a goal for all of us involved in tennis, so hopefully this will move the needle in that respect.

Moderator:

Great, thanks guys. Want to now just remind folks if you have a question you’d like to ask, go into that reactions tab down in the bottom right of your screen and you’ll see raise hand. So click on raise hand or if you’re having a hard time finding that you can go ahead and just DM me in the chat room and I’ll get you into the queue. And I am going to start with Bill Simons to be the first to ask a question. Bill.

Bill Simons:

Hi Patrick. Hi John. Congratulations on the trip. And then Zimbabwe was just incredible time for tennis. John, over your career, you’ve had just so many fascinating relationships with rivals, friends, stars, and when they announce this Zoom press conference, they noted it was the 30th anniversary of Arthur passing and you guys had an incredible relationship. At one point he said he was envious of the freedom that you had to express your emotions. Could you just talk about your early relationship with Arthur? It was kind of fire and ice and what it was like playing Davis Cup for him and what was the dynamic, especially in that match in Cincinnati that got pretty intense?

John McEnroe:

Well, we played twice in Madison Square Garden in 1979 when I was sort of making my breakthrough, when Arthur was the top six player in the world and six months later had a heart attack and then from that point was never able to play tennis again. And as you pointed out, became the Davis Cup captain, which is where we really got to know each other. But he supported me from the beginning, even when I was a young buck coming up and people were sort of coming after me. And Arthur was very supportive in the press as well as privately and was sort of a mentor. He was instrumental and helpful and me recognizing that it wasn’t the time to go to South Africa, 1980 when they offered to me a ton of money to go down there. And so I think that that helped our relationship because obviously there was a big age difference and then we got to know each other well off the courts, but particularly in the Davis Cup matches, being able to discuss everything but tennis truthfully.

And I felt like it helped me quite a bit and it was just a sad reality that someone as important to our sport as him was… Got aids eventually and passed away at the age of 49. I only wish he’d have been able to see the court named after him and sort of been a bigger part of tennis. But obviously for him, South Africa and Africa in general is extremely important to him. So if he’s looking up from above 30 years later, hopefully he’ll look at what… This obviously is a bucket list trip for us. So I’m not going to lie and tell you this isn’t an amazing experience for us, but hopefully it will bring some more awareness and interest in our sport because obviously to me it’s always been a worldwide game, but we have that issue in New York where I am right now. It’s not as if it’s not affordable enough in all parts of the world. So this is something that’s been ongoing and I will continue to pursue the rest of my life.

Bill Simons:

And your Davis Cup experience with him was just a matter of a really intense player with a coach who was very reserved and you’re sort of in different places?

John McEnroe:

I’d say that’s a safe way to put it. But safe to say we weren’t particularly similar on the court. He was chasing after me at times, “Hey, you don’t need to yell at the umpire,” that type of thing. He was one of the first to look at stats and I guess analytics and all these other things that people are doing now. I thought it was crazy to some degree I still do, but that’s where all sports are headed. So we had a great relationship though. I mean obviously when you go out in the court things happen and people don’t always agree, but in truth that we are a lot more similar than it appear, let’s just say that.

Bill Simons:

Well, have a good trip and thank you.

John McEnroe:

Thank you.

Moderator:

Great. Thank you, Bill. Appreciate it. A reminder, if you have a question, you want to use the raise hand function and our next question is from Dawn Davis.

Dawn Davis:

I was just wondering about the environmental implications of building a court in the middle of the Serengeti and will the court stay or be dismantled after? And if it’s going to stay, what are the plans to support it after people leave the trip?

Paul Cohen:

I’ll actually answer that one. The court is not going to stay obviously for environmental and conservation reasons. It’s being built just for this purpose. And also at the same time when we look at the stands, it’s going to be a little bit more unique and that the fans will be sitting among the rocks rather than sitting… We’re not building bleachers. This isn’t Davis Cup or the US open, so it’s just going to be built for this occasion and then within a few weeks the Serengeti will go back to the peaceful Serengeti that it once was and still is.

Dawn Davis:

Thank you.

The Moderator:

Great, thank you. Next up is the great Cindy Shmerler.

Cindy Shmerler:

We’ve seen players in the past, we’ve seen Roger, we’ve seen Steffi Graf, players who’ve really devoted themselves to teaching tennis to underserved communities. And I know this is a bit of a junket and it’s a great publicity event, but I’m wondering how important is it for both of you to give back and… Will you go back to Tanzania and other areas like that to ensure that that tennis does become part of their folklore?

John McEnroe:

Well, I’ll start Patrick can finish. You know, Cindy, I’m in New York City right now and we have an uphill battle here to… This has been ongoing for me for decades and it will continue to be. The money that’s going to the Johnny Mac Tennis Project is used directly for people. Unfortunately, most people, 99% probably, they can’t afford to play this great game. So I can imagine it’s as bad or worse in Tanzania and other parts of Africa. And so while yes, this is a publicity trip on some level, pretty much everything that we’re trying to do at this point to give back as much as possible, while still enjoying our own lives and spending time with kids and et cetera would be the ultimate win for me would be to make the game more accessible, affordable, exciting, something that the young boys and girls want to do.

I think with the girls it’s much more of a level playing field as we know more than any other sport. So the best athletes generally play tennis with young girls, but not the case with the boys. This is an issue that’s going to not go away as long as I’m still alive and will continue to be something that’s going to be hopefully dealt with as much as possible. The long answer to your shorter question would be that I don’t know if I’ll be back in Tanzania, back there specifically or where I will spend the next 20 years visiting. Hopefully opportunities like this will come up, but these don’t come up every day, so I plan to enjoy it and as well as hopefully educate some people and hopefully it brings some interest.

Patrick McEnroe:

Yeah, I’ll just follow up Cindy by saying obviously I spend a lot of time at the Johnny Mac Tennis Academy in New York with John, and that’s a big goal of ours there to help those kids that, as John said, normally couldn’t afford to try to pursue a pro career or collegiate career, even just play consistently the sport. So we’re going to try to do our part to bring some positive attention to Tanzania, to the rest of the world what tennis can do. And if we get the opportunity to continue to do that in the future, of course we jump at that opportunity. But this is certainly a great chance to, as John said, do something that is a bucket list type of experience and at the same time hopefully move the needle a little bit as far as getting tennis attention in that part of the world.

Cindy Shmerler:

Thanks, guys. Good to see you.

The Moderator:

Great, Cindy. Thanks very much. Next question up is Tanner Simkins.

Tanner Simkins:

Hi guys, this is Tanner Simkins. I’m with The Daily Payoff. I’ve got two questions please and thank you for your time. First one’s for Patrick and the second one’s going to be for John. Patrick, the NBA has made great progress bringing their sport to Africa, and more recently the NFL has made similar strides. Do you think this event will help bring tennis to Africa in some capacity? And if so, maybe you can comment a bit about how?

Patrick McEnroe:

Well, we certainly hope so. I mean that’s definitely a big part of the goal of the trip, right? We don’t have the resources that the NBA has or the NFL has certainly, but that’s a positive sign and as John rightly noted, tennis is arguably the most global sport probably outside of soccer that there is in the world. So we hope this is a first step. If it’s not, if it’s a one-off, we think it’s worth it to do it anyway. Again, to bring tennis to this part of the world and to bring a little bit of attention to it as far as being a first step towards a professional tournament or what have you, a lot of other things would certainly have to fall into place for that to happen. But we’ll certainly do our part to try to make some positive inroads in that respect as well.

Tanner Simkins:

Sure. Great, thank you. And then John, we know Safari has their Big 5. What is your Big 5, if we’re talking tennis greats?

John McEnroe:

My big five in terms of tennis, you’re talking about male tennis, the all time great male players, is that what you’re asking?

Tanner Simkins:

Yeah, a bit of a fun question. Yeah, your Big 5, all time Big 5 tennis.

John McEnroe:

My top five would be obviously the three that we’ve been watching the last 15 years, Djokovic, Nadal and Federer. People can pick that order, as well as Pete Sampras and Rod Laver, who is my idol. That’s who I would put at the top five. The order would be determined by people preference, their own personal preference.

Tanner Simkins:

Love it. Thank you, guys.

Patrick McEnroe:

Thank you.

The Moderator:

Great, Tanner, thanks very much. Next question up is Johanna Jainchill from Travel Weekly. Johanna.

Johanna Jainchill:

Hi, sorry I slack to, jerry. Will there be other opportunities for guests to spend the time and have interaction with the McEnroe brothers during the tour?

John McEnroe:

Absolutely not. No, I’m kidding. I don’t think there’s going to be a whole lot of… I think we’re going to be fairly close together as my guests. We’ll be staying nearby, so I would suspect that they’ll see us around. That won’t be the issue.

Johanna Jainchill:

Okay. But no dinners or specific…

John McEnroe:

Oh, I believe there’s an itinerary that’s online already and I believe there are dinner and talks and we’re going to go to the Maasai Village among other things, but yes.

Patrick McEnroe:

I’m pretty confident there’s numerous scheduled activities which you can see outlined in the itinerary. There’s quite a few of them.

Johanna Jainchill:

Great, thank you.

Patrick McEnroe:

Thanks.

Paul Cohen:

Johanna, I could add on. All of the itineraries are listed. I mean all of the activities are listed that there’s plenty… Everybody’s together pretty much the whole time. And also for the readers who travel weekly, we are very travel agent friendly and the trip is actually fully commissionable and we’re working with travel agents at the same time.

Johanna Jainchill:

Great, thanks, Paul.

Paul Cohen:

And we can also customize some packages with different add-ons for the travel agents.

Johanna Jainchill:

Excellent, thanks.

The Moderator:

Great. And Paul, while we have you there, we had a question in the chat but they couldn’t get on. Do you have any information on the sweepstakes yet or is that still TBD?

Paul Cohen:

Yeah, I can give you the update on the sweepstakes. We’re hoping to have it launched for today, but rolling out these sweepstakes takes some time to get it bonded in the different states. So the goal is to have this ready to launch at BNP Paribas in a few weeks out in Palm Springs. But essentially we’re partnering with Propeller to build this out. They recently did a very nice sweepstakes for the NFL with Big Brothers, Big Sisters gave away some trips to the Super Bowl. They’re our platform partner and the main beneficiaries are obviously the Johnny Mac Tennis Project and the Tanzania Youth Coalition. So the funds are going to be supporting the youth, not just in New York and the US but in Tanzania at the same time. And it’s being set up where when you make a donation to the cause, then you receive an entry into the sweepstakes so anybody can win. It isn’t going to be an auction. So once you make a donation, you receive entries and it’s going to be for two people to join us on the trip.

The Moderator:

Great, thank you. Next question is from Adam Zagori in New York Times and Forbes. Adam.

Adam Zagoria:

Hey guys, this looks like a terrific event. Good luck. I’m going to try to sneak-

Patrick McEnroe:

Thanks, Adam.

Adam Zagoria:

I’m try to sneak in a Novak question here real quick. It looks like he’s trying to get an exemption for to come to the US for Miami and Indian Wells. I’m wondering, Patrick and John, do you guys think he should get one and if he’s not able to come to the US for the US Open, what will that mean, both for the US Open and just for Novak’s kind of pursuit of more majors long term?

Patrick McEnroe:

Well, I’ll quickly start. I know John has a lot of thoughts on this as well. I hope he does get an exemption. I hope he can get into the country to play. I mean, I’m no doctor and no expert, but it does seem like we’re sort of past most of the pandemic, knock on wood, at least as far as the rules go in different countries. I mean he’s able to go to any other country to play at this point. And my understanding is that the President has announced that many of these regulations will be withdrawn and I believe it’s in May, whether or not Novak able to get the exemption before that obviously is up in the air. I did just see online that he’s apparently called the press conference in Serbia tomorrow. So maybe we’ll get some more information, Adam, directly from him. But certainly for the good of the sport, for tennis, I think everybody would like to see him be able to play whatever tournaments he wants to play at this point.

John McEnroe:

I think it’s a complete joke that he’s not allowed to play. Make a long story short, this has gone on… It’s absurd. They threw him out of Australia last year. I have had my vaccines, I respect that he’s chosen not to do it, I would’ve done it, but that’s a whole other issue. But at this point, or even last year, he played in 2021 and then wasn’t allowed to come in 2022. Someone explain that to me and now he’s still not permitted to play. I mean it’s absurd, in my opinion, but we’ll see what happens.

Adam Zagoria:

Just to clarify, you’re saying it would be absurd if he couldn’t play the US Open this year, right?

John McEnroe:

Yes. I’m saying absurd if he couldn’t play Indian Wells or Miami or any other tournament in the US and especially the US Open. This is historic time in our sport, obviously, him and Rafael both at 22. It’s pretty interesting if you ask me. So it would be a damn shame.

Adam Zagoria:

Thanks a lot guys. Good luck.

Patrick McEnroe:

Thanks, Adam.

The Moderator:

Great. Thank you Adam. Next question is from Olivanus Thomas.

Olivanus Thomas:

Oh, thank you. And first of all, let me congratulate for the decision of coming to Tanzania to explore the beauty of Africa through the wildlife and environment, so welcome to Tanzania.

Patrick McEnroe:

Thank you.

Olivanus Thomas:

Yes, let me congratulate also the decision of motivating the kids, of the children on the game of the tennis. ‘Cause we’re behind on that game so it’s nice thing to hear that. The I’m the one that wanted to ask him a question is will you give your time to share the experience with the native tennis coaches of Tanzania and Tanzania Tennis Association, which dealing with the tennis, who wants to share your experience and encourage strategical how to improve the tennis game in Tanzania. So that is my question. Okay, thank you.

John McEnroe:

Well I believe that it would be certainly good idea for us to meet with some of the Tanzania coaches. There’s no question about that. I suspect that they have the same issues that we have in the United States only worse, which is the affordability and the availability for the young kids to play the game and the amount of time, it’s not an easy game to learn and master. So it takes many years. So this isn’t something where we’re going to walk down in one week and all of a sudden people are going to learn how to play tennis. This is not unfortunately the way it operates. Hopefully what it will do will bring an interest to the point where perhaps the Government, I understand that the President is the first female President in Tanzania history.

Perhaps it will spark an interest in her to invest more in our sport in Tanzania with the hope to provide an outlet or a life-changing experience for the kids there as we try to do here in New York actually to change their lives for the better, to give them opportunities they wouldn’t normally have. So that’s our goal and we will pursue it while we’re down there, but it ain’t going to change overnight, that’s for sure.

Olivanus Thomas:

Thank you.

The Moderator:

Great. Olivanus, thank you so much. Next up is Sandrine Nzeukou. Sandrine.

Sandrine Nzeukou:

Hi. Hi everyone. My is Sandrine and I run Tessa, we are sports advisory and media business that focuses on African sports business. So first and foremost, congratulations on this initiative. It really sounds like it’s incredible and it’s much needed. And really kind of piggybacking off of Olivanus’s and Cindy’s earlier question, really talking about the life of this initiative. Patrick, you had mentioned a little bit earlier that there’s essentially a decision between whether or not this is going to be a one-off initiative or it’s going to continue to evolve. And I was really wondering specifically what are the triggers into exploring this initiative a little bit further. So being able to deepen and potentially being able to create an ecosystem or a framework around how to create more sustainable support to grow the game on the continent and to specifically provide support for the coaches because I’m sure as you all have recognized unfortunately for the African continent, what is hindering specifically talent development is coaching expertise. And so to be able to develop that as much as possible is really going to be how we blossom any discipline really across the continent.

Patrick McEnroe:

Well first of all, thanks for the question and I think we’ve touched on it already. The two main things that John… One of the things you discussed is a President and the Government of Tanzania getting behind some kind of initiative to promote tennis, so that’s number one. Number two is certainly a great idea from our previous caller talking about getting together with the Tanzania Tennis Association and the coaches because I think those are the two absolute keys to towards promoting the game and getting some more resources behind the game. So if we can do our part in helping push that forward, I think we’ll feel awfully good about this trip from that perspective and on that level. And we’ll certainly continue to do our part. I mean, as John and I have already talked about, it’s a great opportunity for us to go to an incredible part of the world and at the same time, hopefully we’ll make some relationships there.

And this is something that, as I said earlier, it’s not just a one-off and it will be an opportunity for us to continue to push the concept forward of tennis development in this part of the world. We hope this is a spark, we want this to be a spark to hopefully lighten up the interest in the sport and also get some obviously much needed resources behind it because as John noted, to become just a competent tennis player takes a lot of time and a lot of effort and a lot of resources.

Sandrine Nzeukou:

Thank you.

Jerry Milani:

Great, thank you, Sandrine. And we have time for one more caller and it’s going to be Bill Simons and then I’ll just remind everyone that I’ll put it in the chat, but the access to the press release and all the video and photo links will be in that chat. And we’ll also have a recording of this available which will also go into that link. Bill.

Bill Simons:

Thanks a lot for this press. Conference’s been interesting. Two questions, John, you’ve been on safari to Africa. Can you put into words just the power of the continent, the beauty, what makes it so special and all? And also for you and for Patrick, just before we go, if you could just change one thing, maybe two things in our sport, what would that be? Thanks a lot.

John McEnroe:

Hard to describe. I wasn’t much of a sort of an animal lover per se. And my wife has certainly changed me along those lines. But there’s something magnificent about finding yourself in the middle of this type of situation where you’re on a safari and all of a sudden you’re a couple feet away from lions and elephants and giraffes, it’s crazy. It’s amazing. Something that my wife wants to do regularly, I have gone twice, once in South Africa, once in Tanzania, so I’m excited. And then the idea of doing something, hopefully that’ll be positive for the sport is also the icing on the cake. We use words loosely at times, but like a bucket list type of phrase, but this really is that. So it’s going to be amazing and I’m looking forward to it. The other part of your question, I’m going to leave to Patrick. What needs to be changed, we don’t have enough time to get into that right now that’s-

Bill Simons:

You needed a commissioner, but anyway.

John McEnroe:

Well, I’ve been saying that for 25, 30 years, but that would certainly be one of them.

Patrick McEnroe:

Well, the other one, Bill, would be to continue to promote the personalities of the sport. And obviously I love the team events. I think maybe there’s a few too many of them at this point. But the Laver Cup, which I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of with John over the last few years, to me, those are great events. I think even the ones they’ve tried out down in Australia, the United Cup, we both, John and I, of course have a huge place in our hearts for the Davis Cup and what that’s meant to us on a couple of levels. And to our family, our parents we’re always very keen on representing the country. So I would like to see those events get bigger. We’ve talked about that forever. I’d like to see more of a team event in the Olympics when it comes to tennis.

I think it’s underserved by just being almost like a normal tournament. And for me, just going to Africa and as I said I’ve been once before, just to see nature as nature is something that it is an incredible experience. I mean you come back from that with a different perspective on your own life and your own world you live in. So from that sense, it’s an incredible opportunity and I think it changes the way you see the world once you are able to take a trip like this, when you come back to your own reality.

Bill Simons:

Thanks a lot, Patrick. Have a great trip.

Patrick McEnroe:

Thanks, Bill.

The Moderator:

Great. Bill, thank you. And everyone, thank you for being on the call. I’ve put that link there in the chat. I’ve also put all my information there in the chat if you have any questions following up. There will be a recording which you can specifically request from me or it’ll pop into that link in a little bit as well. Patrick, John, thank you, Paul. Thank you for being part of this, this morning and this afternoon and we will look forward to this event.

Paul Cohen:

Thank you so much. Thanks for having us.