When James Curley saw the “Concert for Carolina” raise $25 million for disaster relief following the devastation of Hurricane Helene, he decided to call in some favors.
While the former U.S. Open tennis director, who moved to Asheville, N.C., around two and a half years ago to be closer to his grandkids, might not have A-list country music stars on speed dial, he wanted to use his connections in tennis to do his own version — albeit on a less grandiose scale.
His first call went to former U.S. No. 1 Andy Roddick, who agreed to help immediately. He was followed by Andre Agassi.
“Once you have Andre and Andy, then it’s kind of like … ‘I’d like to be part of this,’” Curley told cllct, detailing how he was then able to get current U.S. stars Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro to sign on, as well as a group of donors and other celebrities. “You need kind of a critical mass and having those guys, you know, made all the difference in the world.”
Suddenly, a charity match and auction was born with tennis’ own A-listers — even if none of them had been nominated for a Grammy.
Michael Costa, a comedian best known for his work on “The Daily Show,” agreed to host the event. Though Costa’s television chops certainly makes him an easy fit, it’s his background in tennis that ties it all together.
“He signs his emails No. 864 and I'm like, ‘What's that?’ And he goes, ‘Well, that's the highest I reached on the ATP rankings.”
It turns out, Costa actually played tennis at Illinois under coach Craig Tiley, now the director of the Australian Open.
“What better time to call in some favors than following a hurricane?” said Curley, who counted himself lucky having “only” been subjected to weeks without power and drinkable water.
The event will be live-streamed on The Tennis Channel this Sunday. Tickets, which are on sale now for $50 each, have been selling well, Curley said.
But that’s just one facet of the event, which he expects to raise well over $1 million, with proceeds going to nonprofits supporting the relief efforts. His contacts at the USTA provided a “ridiculous VIP experience,” including courtside seats to the men’s and women’s finals at the U.S. Open for the auction.
Curley’s rolodex from decades in the tennis world continued to bear fruit.
“Then I was reminded that Mark Miles, who used to head the ATP Tour, went off to work for Roger Penske and Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” Curley said. “So, I got in touch with Mark and he provided VIP tickets for the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400.”
The auction for the event, called “Servin’ Up Love,” went live on Goldin Auctions on Tuesday and will continue until Feb. 6. The auction is highlighted by VIP experiences mentioned above as well as a plethora of signed rackets, posters and memorabilia from stars ranging from Roger Federer to John McEnroe, Maria Sharapova and a U.S. Davis Cup polo signed by Roddick, John Isner, Mike and Bob Bryan, Jim Courier and Jay Berger.
The offerings extend beyond tennis, such as a University of North Carolina team-signed basketball, Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz’s racket used in the upcoming charity event, a Christian McCaffrey-signed jersey and even a Derek Jeter-signed ball.
Curley isn’t surprised by the generosity he has seen putting this event together, but he is certainly heartened.
“It's just heartwarming that everyone is willing to step up,” Curley said. “What happened here, it's hard to fathom. [More than] $53 billion in damage and over 100 lives lost. We’re just trying to help and everyone's really been great about stepping up.”
Curley said none of the names mentioned are taking a dime, including himself. The venue, Harrah’s Cherokee Center, isn’t taking payment either. It’s all going to the designated non-profits: The Always Asheville Fund, Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, Asheville Tennis Association, and the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County.
Tickets start around $50 and can be found on the event’s Ticketmaster page.
All items are available for auction on Goldin.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.