US Open × Mount Sinai: The Avatar Booth That Turned Fans into Center Court

Beyond Traditional Sponsorship

As the Official Hospital of the US Open, Mount Sinai could have focused on logos and healthcare messaging.

Instead, they wanted to create something fans would genuinely enjoy, an experience that felt like part of the tournament rather than an advertisement. Their goal was to connect with people through excitement, participation, and memorable moments.

Fans transformed selfies into personalized tennis avatars designed to reflect how they wanted to see themselves on center court.

The brief was simple:

• Create a high-energy experience fans would actually line up for.
• Turn that experience into shareable content and long-term marketing value without feeling transactional.
• Make it inclusive by design so every kind of fan could see themselves represented.

So we built an AI-powered avatar experience that transformed quick selfies into personalized tennis avatars, then showcased those avatars on a giant LED tennis ball, giving every participant their own center-court moment.

Selfie to center court in under two minutes: fans created personalized avatars before seeing themselves appear on a 10-foot LED tennis ball.

What Happened on Site

From a fan's perspective, the experience was effortless.

Visitors stepped up to branded touchscreen kiosks at the Mount Sinai activation.

In under two minutes, they snapped a selfie, selected how they wanted to appear (player, champion, superfan, or ball person) and customized details like age, body type, skin tone, and pronouns.

OutSnapped instantly generated a personalized animated tennis avatar that reflected their appearance.

Their avatar then appeared on a 10-foot circular LED display for approximately 15 seconds, creating a moment that surrounding fans could watch, cheer, and record.

Participants received their avatar via text or email, ready to share on Instagram or TikTok. During the sweepstakes, posting with #ServingAll entered them for a chance to win US Open finals tickets.

Behind the scenes, OutSnapped managed the entire workflow from capture and consent to moderation, content delivery, and LED synchronization, keeping the experience running smoothly throughout the tournament.

The activation put tennis fandom first, made representation part of the experience, created shareable content, and was built to handle tournament-scale participation.

Why It Worked (And Why Fans Loved It)

It felt like the US Open, not a hospital activation.

Rather than focusing on healthcare messaging, the experience celebrated tennis fandom. Mount Sinai became the sponsor that helped fans create memories instead of simply displaying branding.

It made inclusion visible.

Fans customized avatars across age, body type, skin tone, and pronouns, resulting in a display that genuinely reflected the diversity of the crowd.

It turned fans into content creators.

Every avatar became a personalized keepsake and a branded social asset that participants were excited to share with friends and followers.

It delivered at event scale.

No medical data was collected, and with clear participant consent, fast moderation, reliable kiosks, and continuous monitoring, the experience handled constant tournament traffic without slowing down.

The Results

Mount Sinai's activation delivered:

• 8,018 unique participant sessions
• Thousands of personalized AI-generated tennis avatars
• High participation in the finals-ticket sweepstakes through social sharing with #ServingAll

On the ground, the clearest measure of success was even simpler: there was almost always a line, phones were pointed at the giant tennis-ball screen, and fans kept shouting, "Wait, that's me up there!"

A multi-kiosk AI avatar experience connected personalized fan content to a 10-foot LED display, digital delivery, social participation, and real-time event operations.

What We Built

How Can Sponsors Increase Fan Engagement at Sporting Events?

Sports sponsors can increase fan engagement by giving attendees something personalized to participate in, create, and share. Interactive experiences like AI photo activations can turn passive sponsor visibility into fan-generated content, memorable moments, and measurable participation.